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S^4AA4UQ        I 


The  Hoosier  School-Boy 


The  Hoosier 

School-Boy 


EDWARD    EGGLESTON 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1883 


COPYRIGHT,  1883,  BY 
tDWARD   EGGLESTON 


TROW'S 

PRINTING   AND  BOOKBINDING  COMP 
201-213   East  Twelfth  Street 
NEW  YORK 


PS 


3 

CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE 

The  New  Scholar 9 


CHAPTER   II. 
K'.ng  Milkmaid 17 

CHAPTER    III. 
Answering  Back 22 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Little  Christopher  Columbus 29 

CHAPTER   V. 
Whiling  Away  Time 36 


CHAPTER   VI. 
A  Battle 41 


CHAPTER   VII. 
Hat-Ball  and  Bull-Pen  ..  47 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
The  Defender 54 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

PAGE 

Pigeon  Pot-Pie 60 


CHAPTER  X. 
Jack  and  His  Mother 71 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Columbus  and  His  Friends 75 

CHAPTER    XII. 
Greenbank  Wakes  Up 82 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
Professor  Susan 86 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
Crowing  After  Victory 91 

CHAPTER    XV. 
An  Attempt  to  Collect 98 


CHAPTER   XVI. 
An  Exploring  Expedition , 105 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
Housekeeping  Experiences 109 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 
Ghosts nS 

CHAPTER    XIX. 
The  Return  Home 125 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XX, 

PAGE 

A  Foot-Race  for  Money 133 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
The  New  Teacher 142 

CHAPTER   XXII. 
Chasing  the  Fox 147 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 
Called  to  Account 154 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
An  Apology 159 

CHAPTER   XXV. 
King's  Base  and  a  Spelling-Lesson 165 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 
Unclaimed  Top-Strings 168 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 
The  Last  Day  of  School,  and  the  Last  Chapter  of  the  Story 174 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


«'  Not  There,   Not  There,  My  Child  !  " , Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Jack  Amusing  the  Small  Boys  with  Stories  of  Hunting,  Fishing,  and 

Frontier  Adventure 37 

" Cousin  Sukey,"  said  Little  Columbus,   "I  want  to  ask  a   favor  of 
you." 87 

"The  Landing  of  Christopher  Columbus" 113 

Bob  Holliday  Carries  Home  His  Friend 179 


THE  HOOSIER  SCHOOL-BOY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    NEW    SCHOLAR. 

WHILE  the  larger  boys  in  the  village  school  of  Green- 
bank  were  having  a  game  of  "  three  old  cat  "  before 
school-time,  there  appeared  on  the  playground  a  strange 
boy,  carrying  two  books,  a  slate,  and  an  atlas  under  his 
arm. 

He  was  evidently  from  the  country,  for  he  wore  a  suit 
of  brown  jeans,  or  woollen  homespun,  made  up  in  the 
natural  color  of  the  "  black  "  sheep,  as  we  call  it.  He 
shyly  sidled  up  to  the  school-house  door,  and  looked 
doubtfully  at  the  boys  who  were  playing  ;  watching  the 
familiar  game  as  though  he  had  never  seen  it  before. 

The  boys  who  had  the  "  paddles  "  were  standing  on 
three  bases,  while  three  others  stood  each  behind  a  base 
and  tossed  the  ball  round  the  triangle  from  one  hole  or 
base  to  another.  The  new-comer  soon  perceived  that, 
if  one  with  a  paddle,  or  bat,  struck  at  the  ball  and  missed 
it,  and  the  ball  was  caught  directly,  or  "at  the  first 


12  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

bounce,"  he  gave  up  his  bat  to  the  one  who  had  "caught 
him  out."  When  the  ball  was  struck,  it  was  called  a 
"  tick,"  and  Avhen  there  was  a  tick,  all  the  batters  were 
obliged  to  run  one  base  to  the  left,  and  then  the  ball 
thrown  between  a  batter  and  the  base  to  which  he  was 
running  "  crossed  him  out,"  and  obliged  him  to  give  up 
his  "  paddle  "  to  the  one  who  threw  the  ball. 

"  Four  old  cat,"  "  two  old  cat,"  and  "  five  old  cat  " 
are,  as  everybody  knows,  played  in  the  same  way,  the 
number  of  bases  or  holes  increasing  with  the  addition  of 
each  pair  of  players. 

It  is  probable  that  the  game  was  once — some  hun- 
dreds of  years  ago,  maybe — called  "  three  hole  catch," 
and  that  the  name  was  gradually  corrupted  into  "  three 
hole  cat,"  as  it  is  still  called  in  the  interior  States,  and 
then  became  changed  by  mistake  to  "  three  old  cat." 
It  is,  no  doubt,  an  early  form  of  our  present  game  of 
base-ball. 

It  was  this  game  which  the  new  boy  watched,  trying 
to  get  an  inkling  of  how  it  was  played.  He  stood  by 
the  school-house  door,  and  the  girls  who  came  in  were 
obliged  to  pass  near  him.  Each  of  them  stopped  to 
scrape  her  shoes,  or  rather  the  girls  remembered  the 
foot-scraper  because  they  were  curious  to  see  the  new- 
comer. They  cast  furtive  glances  at  him,  noting  his  new 
suit  of  brown  clothes,  his  geography  and  atlas,  his  arith- 
metic, and,  last  of  all,  his  face. 


THE   NEW   SCHOLAR.  13 

"  There's  a  new  scholar,"  said  Peter  Rose,  or,  as  he 
was  called,  "  Pevvee  "  Rose,  a  stout  and  stocky  boy  of 
fourteen,  who  had  just  been  caught  out  by  another. 

"  I  say,  Greeny,  how  did  you  get  so  brown  ?  "  called 
out  Will  Riley,  a  rather  large,  loose-jointed  fellow. 

Of  course,  all  the  boys  laughed  at  this.  Boys  will 
sometimes  laugh  at  any  one  suffering  torture,  whether 
the  victim  be  a  persecuted  cat  or  a  persecuted  boy.  The 
new  boy  made  no  answer,  but  Joanna  Merwin,  who,  just 
at  that  moment,  happened  to  be  scraping  her  shoes,  saw 
that  he  grew  red  in  the  face  with  a  quick  flush  of  anger. 

"  Don't  stand  there,  Greeny,  or  the  cows  '11  eat  you 
up  !  "  called  Riley,  as  he  came  round  again  to  the  base 
nearest  to  the  school-house. 

Why  the  boys  should  have  been  amused  at  this 
speech,  the  new  scholar  could  not  tell — the  joke  was 
neither  new  nor  witty — only  impudent  and  coarse.  But 
the  little  boys  about  the  door  giggled. 

"  It's  a  pity  something  wouldn't  eat  you,  Will  Riley 
— you  are  good  for  nothing  but  to  be  mean."  This  sharp 
speech  came  from  a  rather  tall  and  graceful  girl  of  six- 
teen, who  came  up  at  the  time,  and  who  saw  the  annoy- 
ance of  the  new  boy  at  Riley's  insulting  words.  Of 
course  the  boys  laughed  again.  It  was  rare  sport  to  hear 
pretty  Susan  Lanham  "  take  down  "  the  impudent  Riley. 

"  The  bees  will  never  eat  you  for  honey,  Susan,"  said 
Will. 


14  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

Susan  met  the  titter  of  the  playground  with  a  quick 
flush  of  temper  and  a  fine  look  of  scorn. 

"  Nothing  would  eat  you,  Will,  unless,  maybe,  a 
turkey-buzzard,  and  a  very  hungry  one  at  that." 

This  sharp  retort  was  uttered  with  a  merry  laugh  of 
ridicule,  and  a  graceful  toss  of  the  head,  as  the  mischiev- 
ous girl  passed  into  the  school-house. 

"That  settles  you,  Will,"  said  Pewee  Rose.  And 
Bob  Holliday  began  singing,  to  a  doleful  tune  : 

"  Poor  old  Pidy, 

She  died  last  Friday." 

Just  then,  the  stern  face  of  Mr.  Ball,  the  master,  ap- 
peared at  the  door ;  he  rapped  sharply  with  his  ferule, 
and  called  :  "  Books,  books,  books  !  "  The  bats  were 
dropped,  and  the  boys  and  girls  began  streaming  into 
the  school,  but  some  of  the  boys  managed  to  nudge 
Riley,  saying  : 

"  Poor  old  creetur, 

The  turkey-buzzards  eat  her," 

and  such  like  soft  and  sweet  speeches.  Riley  was  vexed 
and  angry,  but  nobody  was  afraid  of  him,  for  a  boy  may 
be  both  big  and  mean  and  yet  lack  courage. 

The  new  boy  did  not  go  in  at  once,  but  stood  silently 
and  faced  the  inquiring  looks  of  the  procession  of  boys  as 
they  filed  into  the  school-room  with  their  faces  flushed 
from  the  exercise  and  excitement  of  the  games. 


THE   NEW   SCHOLAR. 


"  I  can  thrash  him  easy,"  thought  Pewee  Rose. 

"  He  isn't  a  fellow  to  back  down  easily,"  said  Harvey 
Collins  to  his  next  neighbor. 

Only  good-natured,  rough  Bob  Holliday  stopped  and 
spoke  to  the  new-comer  a  friendly  word.  All  that  he 
said  was  "  Hello  !  "  But  how  much  a  boy  can  put  into 
that  word  "  Hello  !  "  Bob  put  his  whole  heart  into  it, 
and  there  was  no  boy  in  the  school  that  had  .a  bigger 
heart,  a  bigger  hand,  or  half  so  big  a  foot  as  Bob  Holli- 
day. 

The  village  school-house  was  a  long  one  built  of  red 
brick.  It  had  taken  the  place  of  the  old  log  institution 
in  which  one  generation  of  Greenbank  children  had 
learned  reading,  writing,  and  Webster's  spelling-book. 
There  were  long,  continuous  writing-tables  down  the 
sides  of  the  room,  with  backless  benches,  so  arranged 
that  when  the  pupil  was  writing  his  face  was  turned  to- 
ward the  wall — there  was  a  door  at  each  end,  and  a  box 
stove  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  surrounded  by  a 
rectangle  of  four  backless  benches.  These  benches  were 
for  the  little  fellows  who  did  not  write,  and  for  others 
when  the  cold  should  drive  them  nearer  the  stove. 

The  very  worshipful  master  sat  at  the  east  end  of  the 
room,  at  one  side  of  the  door  ;  there  was  a  blackboard — 
a  "  new-fangled  notion  "  in  1850 — at  the  other  side  of  the 
door.  Some  of  the  older  scholars,  who  could  afford 
private  desks  with  lids  to  them,  suitable  for  concealing 


16  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

smuggled  apples  and  maple-sugar,  had  places  at  the  other 
end  of  the  room  from  the  master.  This  arrangement  was 
convenient  for  quiet  study,  for  talking  on  the  fingers  by 
signs,  for  munching  apples  or  gingerbread,  and  for  pass- 
ing little  notes  between  the  boys  and  girls. 

When  the  school  had  settled  a  little,  the  master  struck 
a  sharp  blow  on  his  desk  for  silence,  and  looked  fiercely 
around  the  room,  eager  to  find  a  culprit  on  whom  to 
wreak  his  ill-humor.  Mr.  Ball  was  one  of  those  old- 
fashioned  teachers  who  gave  the  impression  that  he 
would  rather  beat  a  boy  than  not,  and  would  even  like 
to  eat  one,  if  he  could  find  a  good  excuse.  His  eye  lit 
upon  the  new  scholar. 

"  Come  here,"  he  said,  severely,  and  then  he  took 
his  seat. 

The  new  boy  walked  timidly  up  to  a  place  in  front  of 
the  master's  desk.  He  was  not  handsome,  his  face  was 
thin,  his  eyebrows  were  prominent,  his  mouth  was  rather 
large  and  good-humored,  and  there  was  that  shy  twinkle 
about  the  corners  of  his  eyes  which  always  marks  a  fun- 
loving  spirit.  But  his  was  a  serious,  fine-grained  face, 
with  marks  of  suffering  in  it,  and  he  had  the  air  of  having 
been  once  a  strong  fellow  ;  of  late,  evidently,  shaken  to 
pieces  by  the  ague. 

"  Where  do  you  live  ?  "  demanded  Mr.  Ball. 

"  On  Ferry  Street." 

"  What   do   they  call  you  ?  "     This  was   said   with  a 


THE   NEW   SCHOLAR. 


contemptuous,  rasping  inflection  that  irritated  the  new 
scholar.  His  eyes  twinkled,  partly  with  annoyance  and 
partly  with  mischief. 

"  They  call  me  Jack,  for  the  most  part," — then  catch- 
ing the  titter  that  came  from  the  girls'  side  of  the  room, 
and  frightened  by  the  rising  hurricane  on  the  master's 
face,  he  added  quickly  :  "  My  name  is  John  Dudley, 
sir." 

"  Don't  you  try  to  show  your  smartness  on  me,  young 
man.  You  are  a  new-comer,  and  I  let  you  off  this  time. 
Answer  me  that  way  again,  and  you  will  remember  it  as 
long  as  you  live."  And  the  master  glared  at  him  like  a 
savage  bull  about  to  toss  somebody  over  a  fence. 

The  new  boy  turned  pale,  and  dropped  his  head. 

"  How  old  are  you  ?  "     "  Thirteen." 

"Have  you  ever  been  to  school?"  "Three 
months." 

"  Three  months.     Do  you  know  how  to  read  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  with  a  smile. 

"  Can  you  cipher  ?  "     "  Yes,  sir." 

"  In  multiplication  ?"     "  Yes,  sir." 

"  Long  division  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir  ;   I've  been  half  through  fractions." 

"  You  said  you'd  been  to  school  but  three  months  !  " 
"  My  father  taught  me." 

There  was  just  a  touch  of  pride  in  his  voice  as  he  said 
this— a  sense  of  something  superior  about  his  father. 


1 8  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

This  bit  of  pride  angered  the  master,  who  liked  to  be 
thought  to  have  a  monopoly  of  all  the  knowledge  in  the 
town. 

"  Where  have  you  been  living?  " 

"  In  the  Indian  Reserve,  of  late  ;  I  was  born  in 
Cincinnati." 

"  I  didn't  ask  you  where  you  were  born.  When  I 
ask  you  a  question,  answer  that  and  no  more." 

"Yes,  sir."  There  was  a  touch  of  something  in  the 
tone  of  this  reply  that  amused  the  school,  and  that  made 
the  master  look  up  quickly  and  suspiciously  at  Jack 
Dudley,  but  the  expression  on  Jack's  face  was  as  inno- 
cent as  that  of  a  cat  who  has  just  lapped  the  cream  off  the 
milk. 


CHAPTER  II. 

KING    MILKMAID. 

PEWEE  ROSE,  whose  proper  name  was  Peter  Rose, 
had  also  the  nickname  of  King  Pevvee.  He  was  about 
fourteen  years  old,  square  built  and  active,  of  great 
strength  for  his  size,  and  very  proud  of  the  fact  that  no 
boy  in  town  cared  to  attack  him.  He  was  not  bad- 
tempered,  but  he  loved  to  be  master,  and  there  were  a  set 
of  flatterers  who  followed  him,  like  jackals  about  a  lion. 

As  often  happens,  Nature  had  built  for  King  Pewee  a 
very  fine  body,  but  had  forgotten  to  give  him  any  mind 
to  speak  of.  In  any  kind  of  chaff  or  banter,  at  any  sort 
of  talk  or  play  where  a  good  head  was  worth  more  than 
a  strong  arm  and  a  broad  back,  King  Pewee  was  sure  to 
have  the  worst  of  it.  A  very  convenient  partnership  had 
therefore  grown  up  between  him  and  Will  Riley.  Riley 
had  muscle  enough,  but  Nature  had  made  him  mean- 
spirited.  He  had— not  exactly  wit — but  a  facility  for 
using  his  tongue,  which  he  found  some  difficulty  in  dis- 
playing, through  fear  of  other  boys'  fists.  By  forming 
a  friendship  with  Pewee  Rose,  the  two  managed  to  keep 
in  fear  the  greater  part  of  the  school.  Will's  rough 


2O  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

tongue,  together  with  Pewee's  rude  fists,  were  enough  to 
bully  almost  any  boy.  They  let  Harvey  Collins  alone, 
because  he  was  older,  and,  keeping  to  himself,  awed 
them  by  his  dignity  ;  good-natured  Bob  Holliday,  also, 
was  big  enough  to  take  care  of  himself.  But  the  rest 
were  all  as  much  afraid  of  Pewee  as  they  were  of  the  mas- 
ter, and  as  Riley  managed  Pewee,  it  behooved  them  to 
be  afraid  of  the  prime  minister,  Riley,  as  well  as  of  King 
Pewee. 

From  the  first  day  that  Jack  Dudley  entered  the 
school,  dressed  in  brown  jeans,  Will  Riley  marked  him 
for  a  victim.  The  air  of  refinement  about  his  face  showed 
him  to  be  a  suitable  person  for  teasing. 

Riley  called  him  "  milksop,"  and  "  sap-head  ;  "  words 
which  seemed  to  the  dull  intellect  of  King  Pewee  ex- 
ceedingly witty.  And  as  Pewee  was  Riley's  defender, 
he  felt  as  proud  of  these  rude  nicknames  as  he  would  had 
he  invented  them  and  taken  out  a  patent. 

But  Riley's  greatest  stroke  of  wit  came  one  morning 
when  he  caught  Jack  Dudley  milking  the  cow.  In  the 
village  of  Greenbank,  milking  a  cow  was  regarded  as  a 
woman's  work  ;  and  foolish  men  and  boys  are  like  sav- 
ages,— very  much  ashamed  to  be  found  doing  a  woman's 
work.  Fools  always  think  something  else  more  disgrace- 
ful than  idleness.  So,  having  seen  Jack  milking,  Riley 
came  to  school  happy.  He  had  an  arrow  to  shoot  that 
would  give  great  delight  to  the  small  boys. 


KING   MILKMAID.  21 


"Good-morning,  milkmaid!"  he  said  to  Jack  Dud- 
ley, as  he  entered  the  school-house  before  school.  "  You 
milk  the  cow  at  your  house,  do  you  ?  Where's  your 
apron  ?  " 

"  Oh-h  !  Milkmaid  !  milkmaid  !  That's  a  good  one," 
chimed  in  Pevvee  Rose  and  all  his  set 

Jack  changed  color. 

"  Well,  what  if  I  do  milk  my  mother's  cow  ?  I  don't 
milk  anybody's  cow  but  ours,  do  I  ?  Do  you  think  I'm 
ashamed  of  it  ?  I'd  be  ashamed  not  to.  I  can  " — but 
he  stopped  a  minute  and  blushed — "  I  can  wash  dishes, 
and  make  good  pancakes,  too.  Now  if  you  want  to 
make  fun,  why,  make  fun.  I  don't  care."  But  he  did 
care,  else  why  should  his  voice  choke  in  that  way  ? 

"  Oh,  girl-boy  ;  a  pretty  girl-boy  you  are "  but 

here  Will  Riley  stopped  and  stammered.  There  right  in 
front  of  him  was  the  smiling  face  of  Susan  Lanham,  with 
a  look  in  it  which  made  him  suddenly  remember  some- 
thing. Susan  had  heard  all  the  conversation,  and  now 
she  came  around  in  front  of  Will,  while  all  the  other  girls 
clustered  about  her  with  a  vague  expectation  of  sport. 

"  Come,  Pewee,  let's  play  ball,"  said  Will. 

"  Ah,  you're  running  away,  now  ;  you're  afraid  of  a 
girl,"  said  Susan,  with  a  cutting  little  laugh,  and  a  toss  of 
her  black  curls  over  her  shoulder. 

Will  had  already  started  for  the  ball-ground,  but  at 
this  taunt  he  turned  back,  thrust  his  hands  into  his  pock- 


22  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

ets,  put  on  a  swagger,  and  stammered  :  "  No,  I'm  not 
afraid  of  a  girl,  either." 

"  That's  about  all  that  he  isn't  afraid  of,"  said  Bob 
Holliday. 

"Oh!  you're  not  afraid  of  a  girl?"  said  Susan. 
"  What  did  you  run  away  for,  when  you  saw  me  ?  You 
know  that  Pewee  won't  fight  a  girl.  You're  afraid  of 
anybody  that  Pewee  can't  whip." 

"  You've  got  an  awful  tongue,  Susan.  We'll  call  you 
Sassy  Susan,"  said  Will,  laughing  at  his  own  joke. 

"  Oh,  it  isn't  my  tongue,  you're  afraid  of  now.  You 
know  I  can  tell  on  you.  I  saw  you  drive  your  cow  into 
the  stable  last  week.  You  were  ashamed  to  milk  out- 
side, but  you  looked  all  around " 

"  I  didn't  do  it.  How  could  you  see  ?  It  was  dark," 
and  Will  giggled  foolishly,  seeing  all  at  once  that  he  had 
betrayed  himself. 

"  It  was  nearly  dark,  but  I  happened  to  be  where  I 
could  see.  And  as  I  was  coming  back,  a  few  minutes 
after,  I  saw  you  come  out  with  a  pail  of  milk,  and  look 
around  you  like  a  sneak-thief.  You  saw  me  and  hurried 
away.  You  are  such  a  coward  that  you  are  ashamed 
to  do  a  little  honest  work.  Milkmaid  !  Girlboy  !  Cow- 
ard !  And  Pewee  Rose  lets  you  lead  him  around  by 
the  nose  !" 

"  You'd  better  be  careful  what  you  say,  Susan,"  said 
Pevyee,  threateningly. 


KING   MILKMAID.  23 


"You  won't  touch  me.  You  go  about  bullying  little 
boys,  and  calling  yourself  King  Pewee,  but  you  can't  do 
a  sum  in  long  division,  nor  in  short  subtraction,  for  that 
matter,  and  you  let  fellows  like  Riley  make  a  fool  of  you. 
Your  father's  poor,  and  your  mother  can't  keep  a  girl, 
and  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  let  her  milk  the  cow. 
Who  milked  your  cow  this  morning,  Pewee  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  king,  looking  like  the 
king's  fool. 

"You  did  it,"  said  Susan.  "Don't  deny  it.  Then 
you  come  here  and  call  a  strange  boy  a  milkmaid  !  " 

"Well,  I  didn't  milk  in  the  street,  anyway,  and  he 
did."  At  this,  all  laughed  aloud,  and  Susan's  victory 
was  complete.  She  only  said,  with  a  pretty  toss  of  her 
head,  as  she  turned  away  :  "  King  Milkmaid  ! 

Pewee  found  the  nickname  likely  to  stick.  He  was 
obliged  to  declare  on  the  playground  the  next  day,  that 
he  would  "  thrash  "  any  boy  that  said  anything  about 
milkmaids.  After  that,  he  heard  no  more  of  it.  But 
one  morning  he  found  "  King  Milkmaid  "  written  on  the 
door  of  his  father's  cow-stable.  Some  boy  who  dared 
not  attack  Pewee,  had  vented  his  irritation  by  writing  the 
hateful  words  on  the  stable,  and  on  the  fence-corners 
near  the  school-house,  and  even  on  the  blackboard. 

Pewee  could  not  fight  with  Susan  Lanham,  but  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  punish  the  new  scholar  when  he 
should  have  a  chance.  He  must  give  somebody  a  beating. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ANSWERING     BACK. 

IT  is  hard  for  one  boy  to  make  a  fight.  Even  your 
bully  does  not  like  to  "  pitch  on  "  an  inoffensive  school- 
mate. You  remember  ^Esop's  fable  of  the  wolf  and  the 
lamb,  and  what  pains  the  wolf  took  to  pick  a  quarrel 
with  the  lamb.  It  was  a  little  hard  for  Pewee  to  fight 
with  a  boy  who  walked  quietly  to  and  from  the  school, 
without  giving  anybody  cause  for  offence. 

But  the  chief  reason  why  Pewee  did  not  attack  him 
with  his  fists  was  that  both  he  and  Riley  had  found  out 
that  Jack  Dudley  could  help  them  over  a  hard  place  in 
their  lessons  better  than  anybody  else.  And  notwith- 
standing their  continual  persecution  of  Jack,  they  were 
mean  enough  to  ask  his  assistance,  and  he,  hoping  to 
bring  about  peace  by  good-nature,  helped  them  to  get 
out  their  geography  and  arithmetic  almost  every  day. 
Unable  to  appreciate  this,  they  were  both  convinced  that 
Jack  only  did  it  because  he  was  afraid  of  them,  and  as 
they  found  it  rare  sport  to  abuse  him,  they  kept  it  up. 
By  their  influence  Jack  was  shut  out  of  the  plays.  A 
greenhorn  would  spoil  the  game,  they  said.  What  did  a 


ANSWERING  BACK.  25 

boy  that  had  lived  on  Wildcat  Creek,  in  the  Indian 
Reserve,  know  about  playing  bull-pen,  or  prisoner's 
base,  or  shinny?  If  he  was  brought  in,  they  would  go 
out. 

But  the  girls,  and  the  small  boys,  and  good-hearted 
Bob  Holliday  liked  Jack's  company  very  much.  Yet, 
Jack  was  a  boy,  and  he  often  longed  to  play  games  with 
the  others.  He  felt  very  sure  that  he  could  dodge  and 
run  in  "  bull-pen  "  as  well  as  any  of  them.  He  was  very 
tired  of  Riley's  continual  ridicule,  which  grew  worse  as 
Riley  saw  in  him  a  rival  in  influence  with  the  smaller 
boys. 

"  Catch  Will  alone  sometimes,"  said  Bob  Holliday, 
"  when  Pewee  isn't  with  him,  and  then  thrash  him. 
He'll  back  right  down  if  you  bristle  up  to  him.  If 
Pewee  makes  a  fuss  about  it,  I'll  look  after  Pewee.  I'm 
bigger  than  he  is,  and  he  won't  fight  with  me.  What  do 
you  say  ?  " 

"  I  sha'n't  fight  unless  I  have  to." 

"  Afraid  ?  "  asked  Bob,  laughing. 

"  It  isn't  that.  I  don't  think  I'm  much  afraid,  al- 
though I  don't  like  to  be  pounded  or  to  pound  anybody. 
I  think  I'd  rather  be  whipped  than  to  be  made  fun  of, 
though.  But  my  father  used  to  say  that  people  who 
fight  generally  do  so  because  they  are  afraid  of  some- 
body else,  more  than  they  are  of  the  one  they  fight 
with." 


26  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 


"I  believe  that's  a  fact,"  said  Bob.  "But  Riley 
aches  for  a  good  thrashing." 

"  I  know  that,  and  I  feel  like  giving  him  one,  or  tak- 
ing one  myself,  and  I  think  I  shall  fight  him  before  I've 
done.  But  Father  used  to  say  that  fists  could  never  set- 
tle between  right  and  wrong.  They  only  show  which  is 
the  stronger,  and  it  is  generally  the  mean  one  that  gets 
the  best  of  it." 

"That's  as  sure  as  shootin',"  said  Bob.  "Pewee 
could  use  you  up.  Pewee  thinks  he's  the  king,  but 
laws!  he's  only  Riley's  bull-dog.  Riley  is  afraid  of  him, 
but  he  manages  to  keep  the  dog  on  his  side  all  the  time." 

"  My  father  used  to  say,"  said  Jack,  "  that  brutes 
could  fight  with  force,  but  men  ought  to  use  their  wits." 

"  You  seem  to  think  a  good  deal  of  what  your  father 
says, — like  it  was  your  Bible,  you  know." 

"  My  father's  dead,"  replied  Jack. 

"  Oh,  that's  why.  Boys  don't  always  pay  attention 
to  what  their  father  says  when  he's  alive." 

"  Oh,  but  then  my  father  was "  "Here  Jack 

checked  himself,  for  fear  of  seeming  to  boast.  "  You 
see,"  he  went  on,  "  my  father  knew  a  great  deal.  He 
was  so  busy  with  his  books  that  he  lost  'most  all  his 
money,  and  then  we  moved  to  the  Indian  Reserve,  and 
there  he  took  the  fever  and  died  ;  and  then  we  came 
down  here,  where  we  owned  a  house,  so  that  I  could  go 
to  school." 


ANSWERING  BACK.  27 

"  Why  don't  you  give  Will  Riley  as  good  as  he 
sends  ?  "  said  Bob,  wishing  to  get  away  from  melancholy 
subjects.  "  You  have  got  as  good  a  tongue  as  his." 

"  I  haven't  his  stock  of  bad  words  though." 

"  You've  got  a  power  of  fun  in  you,  though, — you 
keep  everybody  laughing  when  you  want  to,  and  if  you'd 
only  turn  the  pumps  on  him  once,  he'd  howl  like  a  yel- 
low dog  that's  had  a  quart  o'  hot  suds  poured  over  him 
out  of  a  neighbor's  window.  Use  your  wits,  like  your 
father  said.  You've  lived  in  the  woods  till  you're  as  shy 
as  a  flying-squirrel.  All  you've  got  to  do  is  to  talk  up 
and  take  it  rough  and  tumble,  like  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Riley  can't  bear  to  be  laughed  at,  and  you  can  make 
him  ridiculous  as  easy  as  not." 

The  next  day,  at  the  noon  recess,  about  the  time  that 
Jack  had  finished  helping  Bob  Holliday  to  find  some 
places  on  the  map,  there  came  up  a  little  shower,  and  the 
boys  took  refuge  in  the  school-house.  They  must  have 
some  amusement,  so  Riley  began  his  old  abuse. 

"  Well,  greenhorn  from  the  Wildcat,  where's  the  black 
sheep  you  stole  that  suit  of  clothes  from  ?  " 

"  I  hear  him  bleat  now,"  said  Jack, — "  about  the 
blackest  sheep  I  have  ever  seen." 

"  You've  heard  the  truth  for  once,  Riley,"  said  Bob 
Holliday. 

Riley,  who  was  as  vain  as  a  peacock,  was  very  much 
mortified  by  the  shout  of  applause  with  which  this  little 


'  28  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

retort  of  Jack's  was  greeted.  It  was  not  a  case  in  which 
he  could  call  in  King  Pewee.  The  king,  for  his  part, 
shut  up  his  fists  and  looked  silly,  while  Jack  took  courage 
to  keep  up  the  battle. 

But  Riley  tried  again. 

"  I  say,  Wildcat,  you  think  you're  smart,  but  you're 
a  double-distilled  idiot,  and  haven't  got  brains  enough  to 
be  sensible  of  your  misery." 

This  kind  of  outburst  on  Riley's  part  always  brought 
a  laugh  from  the  school.  But  before  the  laugh  had  died 
down,  Jack  Dudley  took  the  word,  saying,  in  a  dry  and 
quizzical  way  : 

"  Don't  you  try  to  claim  kin  with  me  that  way,  Riley. 
No  use  ;  I  won't  stand  it.  I  don't  belong  to  your  family. 
I'm  neither  a  fool  nor  a  coward." 

"  Hurrah  !  "  shouted  Bob  Holliday,  bringing  down 
first  one  and  then  the  other  of  his  big  feet  on  the  floor. 
"  It's  your  put-in  now,  Riley." 

"  Don't  be  backward  in  coming  forward,  Will,  as  the 
Irish  priest  said  to  his  people,"  came  from  grave  Harvey 
Collins,  who  here  looked  up  from  his  book,  thoroughly 
enjoying  the  bully's  discomfiture. 

"That's  awfully  good,"  said  Joanna  Merwin,  clasping 
her  hands  and  giggling  with  delight. 

King  Pewee  doubled  up  his  fists  and  looked  at  Riley 
to  see  if  he  ought  to  try  his  sort. of  wit  on  Jack.  If  a 
frog,  being  pelted  to  death  by  cruel  boys,  should  turn 


ANSWERING   BACK.  2Q 


and  pelt  them  again,  they  could  not  be  more  surprised 
than  were  Riley  and  King  Pewee  at  Jack's  repartees. 

"  You'd  better  be  careful  what  you  say  to  Will  Riley," 
said  Pewee.  "  I  stand  by  him." 

But  Jack's  blood  was  up  now,  and  he  was  not  to  be 
scared. 

"  All  the  more  shame  to  him,"  said  Jack.  <l  Look  at 
me,  shaken  all  to  pieces  with  the  fever  and  ague  on  the 
Wildcat,  and  look  at  that  great  big,  bony  coward  of 
a  Riley.  I've  done  him  no  harm,  but  he  wants  to  abuse 
me,  and  he's  afraid  of  me.  He  daren't  touch  me.  He 
has  to  coax  you  to  stand  by  him,  to  protect  him  from 
poor  little  me.  He's  a  great  big " 

"  Calf,"  broke  in  Bob  Holliday,  with  a  laugh. 

"  You'd  better  be  careful,"  said  Pewee  to  Jack,  rising 
to  his  feet.  "  I  stand  by  Riley." 

"  Will  you  defend  him  if  I  hit  him  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Well,  then,  I  won't  hit  him.  But  you  don't  mean 
that  he  is  to  abuse  me,  while  I  am  not  allowed  to  answer 
back  a  word  ?  " 

"  Well •"  said  Pewee,  hesitatingly. 

"  Well,"  said  Bob  Holliday,  hotly,  "  I  say  that  Jack 
has  just  as  good  a  right  to  talk  with  his  tongue  as  Riley. 
Stand  by  Riley  if  he's  hit,  Pewee  :  he  needs  it.  But 
don't  you  try  to  shut  up  Jack."  And  Bob  got  up  and 
put  his  broad  hand  on  Jack's  shoulder.  Nobody  had 


30  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

ever  seen  the  big  fellow  angry  before,  and  the  excitement 
was  very  great.  The  girls  clapped  their  hands. 

"  Good  for  you,  Bob,  I  say,"  came  from  Susan  Lan- 
ham,  and  poor  ungainly  Bob  blushed  to  his  hair  to  find 
himself  the  hero  of  the  girls. 

"  I  don't  mean  to  shut  up  Jack,"  said  Pewee,  looking 
at  Bob's  size,  "  but  I  stand  by  Riley." 

"  Well,  do  your  standing  sitting  down,  then,"  said 
Susan.  "  I'll  get  a  milking-stool  for  you,  if  that  '11  keep 
you  quiet." 

It  was  well  that  the  master  came  in  just  then,  or 
Pewee  would  have  had  to  fight  somebody  or  burst. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LITTLE   CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

JACK'S  life  in  school  was  much  more  endurable  now  that 
he  had  a  friend  in  Bob  Holliday.  Bob  had  spent  his 
time  in  hard  work  and  in  rough  surroundings,  but  he  had 
a  gentleman's  soul,  although  his  manners  and  speech 
were  rude.  More  and  more  Jack  found  himself  drawn  to 
him.  Harvey  Collins  asked  Jack  to  walk  down  to  the 
river-bank  with  him  at  recess.  Both  Harvey  and  Bob 
soon  liked  Jack,  who  found  himself  no  longer  lonely. 
The  girls  also  sought  his  advice  about  their  lessons,  and 
the  younger  boys  were  inclined  to  come  over  to  his  side. 

As  winter  came  on,  country  boys,  anxious  to  learn 
something  about  "  reading,  writing,  and  ciphering," 
came  into  the  school.  Each  of  these  new-comers  had 
to  go  through  a  certain  amount  of  teasing  from  Riley 
and  of  bullying  from  Pewee. 

One  frosty  morning  in  December  there  appeared 
among  the  new  scholars  a  strange  little  fellow,  with  a 
large  head,  long  straight  hair,  an  emaciated  body,  and 
legs  that  looked  like  reeds,  they  were  so  slender.  His 
clothes  were  worn  and  patched,  and  he  had  the  look  of 


32  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 


having  been  frost-bitten.  He  could  net  have  been  more 
than  ten  years  old,  to  judge  by  his  size,  but  there  was  a 
look  of  premature  oldnecs  in  his  face. 

"Come  here!"  said  the  master,  when  he  caught 
sight  of  him.  "What  is  your  name?"  And  Mr.  Ball 
took  out  his  book  to  register  the  new-comer,  with  much 
the  same  relish  that  the  Giant  Despair  showed  when  he 
had  bagged  a  fresh  pilgrim. 

"  Columbus  Risdale."  The  new-comer  spoke  in  a 
shrill,  piping  voice,  as  strange  as  his  weird  face  and 
withered  body. 

"  Is  that  your  full  name  ?  "  asked  the  master. 

"  No,  sir,"  piped  the  strange  little  creature. 

"  Give  your  full  name,"  said  Mr.  Ball,  sternly. 

"  My  name  is  Christopher  Columbus  George  Wash- 
ington Marquis  de  Lafayette  Risdale."  The  poor  lad 
was  the  victim  of  that  mania  which  some  people  have  for 
"naming  after"  great  men.  His  little  shrunken  body 
and  high,  piping  voice  made  his  name  seem  so  incongru- 
ous that  all  the  school  tittered,  and  many  laughed  out- 
right. But  the  dignified  and  eccentric  little  fellow  did 
not  observe  it. 

"  Can  you  read  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,"  squeaked  the  lad,  more  shrilly  than  ever. 

"  Umph,"  said  the  master,  with  a  look  of  doubt  on 
his  face.  "  In  the  first  reader?  " 

"  No,  sir  ;  in  the  fourth  reader." 


LITTLE   CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  33 

Even  the  master  could  not  conceal  his  look  of  aston- 
ishment at  this  claim.  At  that  day,  the  fourth  reader 
class  was  the  highest  in  the  school,  and  contained  only 
the  largest  scholars.  The  school  laughed  at  the  bare 
notion  of  little  Christopher  Columbus  reading  in  the 
fourth  reader,  and  the  little  fellow  looked  around  the 
room,  puzzled  to  guess  the  cause  of  the  merriment. 

"We'll  try  you,"  said  the  nfaster,  with  suspicion. 
When  the  fourth-reader  class  was  called,  and  Harvey  Col- 
lins and  Susan  Lanham  and  some  others  of  the  nearly 
grown-up  pupils  came  forward,  with  Jack  Dudley  as 
quite  the  youngest  of  the  class,  the  great- eyed,  emaciated 
little  Columbus  Risdale  picked  himself  up  on  his  pipe- 
stems  and  took  his  place  at  the  end  of  this  row. 

It  was  too  funny  for  anything  ! 

Will  Riley  and  Pewee  and  other  large  scholars,  who 
were  yet  reading  in  that  old  McGuffey's  Third  Reader, 
which  had  a  solitary  picture  of  Bonaparte  crossing  the 
Alps,  looked  with  no  kindly  eyes  on  this  preposterous 
infant  in  the  class  ahead  of  them. 

The  piece  to  be  read  was  the  poem  of  Mrs.  Hemans's 
called  "  The  Better  Land."  Poems  like  this  one  are 
rather  out  of  fashion  nowadays,  and  people  are  inclined 
to  laugh  a  little  at  Mrs.  Hemans.  But  thirty  years 
ago  her  religious  and  sentimental  poetry  was  greatly 
esteemed.  This  one  presented  no  difficulty  to  the 
readers.  In  that  day,  little  or  no  attention  was  paid  to 


34  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

inflection — the  main  endeavor  being  to  pronounce  the 
words  without  hesitation  or  slip,  and  to  "  mind  the  stops." 
Each  one  of  the  class  read  a  stanza  ending  with  a  line  : 

"  Not  there,  not  there,  my  child  !  " 

The  poem  was  exhausted  before  all  had  read,  so  that 
it  was  necessary  to  begin  over  again  in  order  to  give  each 
one  his  turn.  All  waited  to  hear  the  little  Columbus  read. 
When  it  came  his  turn,  the  school  was  as  still  as  death. 
The  master,  wishing  to  test  him,  told  him,  with  something 
like  a  sneer,  that  he  could  read  three  stanzas,  or  "  verses," 
as  Mr.  Ball  called  them. 

The  little  chap  squared  his  toes,  threw  his  head  back, 
and  more  fluently  even  than  the  rest,  he  read,  in  his 
shrill,  eager  voice,  the  remaining  lines,  winding  up  each 
stanza  in  a  condescending  tone,  as  he  read  : 

"  Not  there,  not  there,  my  child  !  " 

The  effect  of  this  from  the  hundred-year-old  baby  was 
so  striking  and  so  ludicrous  that  everybody  was  amused, 
while  all  were  surprised  at  the  excellence  of  his  reading. 
The  master  proceeded,  however,  to  whip  one  or  two  of 
the  boys  for  laughing. 

When  recess-time  arrived,  Susan  Lanham  came  to 
Jack  with  a  request. 

"  I  wish  you'd  look  after  little  Lummy  Risdale.  He's 
a  sort  of  cousin  of  my  mother's.  He  is  as  innocent  and 
helpless  as  the  babes  in  the  wood." 


LITTLE    CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  35 

"  I'll  take  care  of  him,"  said  Jack. 

So  he  took  the  little  fellow  walking  away  from  the 
school-house  ;  Will  Riley  and  some  of  the  others  calling 
after  them  :  "  Not  there,  not  there,  my  child  !  " 

But  Columbus  did  not  lay  their  taunts  to  heart.  He 
was  soon  busy  talking  to  Jack  about  things  in  the  country, 
and  things  in  town.  On  their  return,  Riley,  crying  out : 
"Not  there,  my  child  !"  threw  a  snow-ball  from  a  dis- 
tance of  ten  feet  and  struck  the  poor  little  Christopher 
Columbus  George  Washington  Lafayette  so  severe  a  blow 
as  to  throw  him  off  his  feet.  Quick  as  a  flash,  Jack  charged 
on  Riley,  and  sent  a  snow-ball  into  his  face.  An  instant 
later,  he  tripped  him  with  his  foot  and  rolled  the  big, 
scared  fellow  into  the  snow  and  washed  his  face  well, 
leaving  half  a  snow-bank  down  his  back. 

"  What  makes  you  so  savage  ?  "  whined  Riley.  "  I 
didn't  snow-ball  you."  And  Riley  looked  around  for 
Pewee,  who  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  school-house, 
and  out  of  sight  of  the  scuffle. 

"  No,  you  daren't  snow-ball  me,"  said  Jack,  squeez- 
ing another  ball  and  throwing  it  into  Riley's  shirt-front 
with  a  certainty  of  aim  that  showed  that  he  knew  how  to 
play  ball.  "  Take  that  one,  too,  and  if  you  bother  Lum 
Risdale  again,  I'll  make  you  pay  for  it.  Take  a  boy  of 
your  size."  And  with  that  he  moulded  yet  another  ball, 
but  Riley  retreated  to  the  other  side  of  the  school-house. 


CHAPTER  V. 


WHILING   AWAY   TIME. 

EXCLUDED  from  the  plays  of  the  older  fellows,  Jack 
drew  around  him  a  circle  of  small  boys,  who  were  always 
glad  to  be  amused  with  the  stories  of  hunting,  fishing, 
and  frontier  adventure  that  he  had  heard  from  old 
pioneers  on  Wildcat  Creek.  Sometimes  he  played  "  tee- 
tah-toe,  three  in  a  row,"  with  the  girls,  using  a  slate  and 
pencil  in  a  way  well  known  to  all  school-children.  And 
he  also  showed  them  a  better  kind  of 
"  tee-tah-toe,"  learned  on  the  Wildcat, 
and  which  may  have  been  in  the  first 
place  an  Indian  game,  as  it  is  played 
with  grains  of  Indian  corn.  A  piece 
of  board  is  grooved  with  a  jack-knife  in 
the  manner  shown  in  the  diagram. 
One  player  has  three  red  or  yellow  grains  of  corn, 
and  the  other  an  equal  number  of  white  ones.  The 
player  who  won  the  last  game  has  the  "  go  "- — that  is,  he 
first  puts  down  a  grain  of  corn  at  any  place  where  the 
lines  intersect,  but  usually  in  the  middle,  as  that  is  the 
best  point.  Then  the  other  player  puts  down  one,  and 


DIAGRAM   OF 
TEE-TAH-TOF.   BOAR! 


WHILING   AWAY   TIME.  39 

so  on  until  all  are  down.  After  this,  the  players  move 
alternately  along  any  of  the  lines,  in  any  direction,  to  the 
next  intersection,  provided  it  is  not  already  occupied. 
The  one  who  first  succeeds  in  getting  his  three  grains  in 
a  row  wins  the  point,  and  the  board  is  cleared  for  a  new 
start.  As  there  are  always  three  vacant  points,  and  as 
the  rows  may  be  formed  in  any  direction  along  any  of  the 
lines,  the  game  gives  a  chance  for  more  variety  of  com- 
binations than  one  would  expect  from  its  appearance. 

Jack  had  also  an  arithmetical  puzzle  which  he  had 
learned  from  his  father,  and  which  many  of  the  readers 
of  this  story  will  know,  perhaps. 

"  Set  down  any  number,  without  letting  me  know 
what  it  is,"  said  he  to  Joanna  Merwin. 

She  set  down  a  number. 

"  Now  add  twelve  and  multiply  by  two." 

"  Well,  that  is  done,"  said  Joanna. 

"  Divide  by  four,  subtract  half  of  the  number  first  set 
down,  and  your  answer  will  be  six." 

"  Oh,  but  how  did  you  know  that  I  put  down  sixty- 
four  ?  "  said  Joanna. 

"  I  didn't,"  said  Jack. 

"  How  could  you  tell  the  answer,  then  ?  " 

"  That's  for  you  to  find  out." 

This  puzzle  excited  a  great  deal  of  curiosity.  To  add 
to  the  wonder  of  the  scholars,  Jack  gave  each  time  a 
different  number  to  be  added  in,  and  sometimes  he 


40  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

varied  the  multiplying  and  dividing.  Harvey  Collins, 
who  was  of  a  studious  turn,  puzzled  over  it  a  long  time, 
and  at  last  he  found  it  out  ;  but. he  did  not  tell  the  secret. 
He  contented  himself  with  giving  out  a  number  to  Jack 
and  telling  his  result.  To  the  rest  it  was  quite  miracu- 
lous, and  Riley  turned  green  with  jealousy  When  he  found 
the  girls  and  boys  refusing  to  listen  to  his  jokes,  but 
gathering  about  Jack  to  test  his  ability  to  "  guess  the 
answer,"  as  they  phrased  it.  Riley  said  he  knew  how  it 
was  done,  and  he  was  even  foolish  enough  to  try  to  do 
it,  by  watching  the  slate-pencil,  or  by  sheer  guessing, 
but  this  only  brought  .him  into  ridicule. 

"  Try  me  once,"  said  the  little  C.  C.  G.  W.  M.  de  L. 
Risdale,  and  Jack  let  Columbus  set  down  a  figure  and 
carry  it  through  the  various  processes  until  he  told  him 
the  result.  Lummy  grew  excited,  pushed  his  thin  hands 
up  into  his  hair,  looked  at  his  slate  a  minute,  and  then 
squeaked  out : 

"  Oh — let  me  see — yes — no — yes — Oh,  I  see  !  Your 
answer  is  just  half  the  amount  added  in,  because  you 
have " 

But  here  Jack  placed  his  hand  over  Columbus's  mouth. 

"  You  can  see  through  a  pine  door,  Lummy,  but  you 
mustn't  let  out  my  secret,"  he  said. 

But  Jack  had  a  boy's  heart  in  him,  and  he  longed  for 
some  more  boy-like  amusement. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

A    BATTLE. 

ONE  morning,  when  Jack  proposed  to  play  a  game  of  ball 
with  the  boys,  Riley  and  Pewee  came  up  and  entered  the 
game,  and  objected. 

"  It  isn't  interesting  to  play  with  greenhorns,"  said 
Will.  "  If  Jack  plays,  little  Christopher  Columbus  And- 
soforth  will  want  to  play,  too  ;  and  then  there'll  be  two 
babies  to  teach.  I  can't  be  always  helping  babies.  Let 
Jack  play  two-hole  cat  or  Anthony-over  with  the  little 
fellows."  To  which  answer  Pewee  assented,  of  course. 

That  day  at  noon  Riley  came  to  Jack,  with  a  most 
gentle  tone  and  winning  manner,  and  whiningly  begged 
Jack  to  show  him  how  to  divide  770  by  14. 

"  It  isn't  interesting  to  show  greenhorns,"  said  Jack, 
mimicking  Riley's  tone  on  the  playground  that  morning. 
"  If  I  show  you,  Pewee  Rose  will  want  me  to  show  him  ; 
then  there'll  be  two  babies  to  teach.  I  can't  be  always 
helping  babies.  Go  and  play  two-hole  cat  with  the  First- 
Reader  boys." 

That  afternoon,  Mr.  Ball  had  the  satisfaction  of  using 
his  new  beech  switches  on  both  Riley  and  Pewee,  though 
indeed  Pewee  did  not  deserve  to  be  punished  for  not  get- 


42  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

ting  his  lesson.  It  was  Nature's  doing  that  his  head,  like 
a  goat's,  was  made  for  butting  and  not  for  thinking. 

But  if  he  had  to  take  whippings  from  the  master  and 
his  father,  he  made  it  a  rule  to  get  satisfaction  out  of  some- 
body else.  If  Jack  had  helped  him  he  wouldn't  have 
missed.  If  he  had  not  missed  his  lesson  badly,  Mr.  Ball 
would  not  have  whipped  him.  It  would  be  inconvenient 
to  whip  Mr.  Ball  in  return,  but  Jack  would  be  easy  to 
manage,  and  as  somebody  must  be  whipped,  it  fell  to 
Jack's  lot  to  take  it. 

King  Pewee  did  not  fall  upon  his  victim  at  the  school- 
house  door — this  would  have  insured  him  another  beating 
from  the  master.  Nor  did  he  attack  Jack  while  Bob  Hol- 
liday  was  with  him.  Bob  was  big  and  strong — a  great 
fellow  of  sixteen.  But  after  Jack  had  passed  the  gate  of 
Bob's  house,  and  was  walking  on  toward  home  alone, 
Pewee  came  out  from  behind  an  alley  fence,  accompanied 
by  Ben  Berry  and  Will  Riley. 

"  I'm  going  to  settle  with  you  now,"  said  King  Pewee, 
sidling  up  to  Jack  like  an  angry  bull-dog. 

It  was  not  a  bright  prospect  for  Jack,  and  he  cast 
about  him  for  a  chance  to  escape  a  brutal  encounter  with 
such  a  bully,  and  yet  avoid  actually  running  away. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  if  I  must  fight,  I  must.  But  I 
suppose  you  won't  let  Riley  and  Berry  help  you." 

"  No,  I'll  fight  fair."  And  Pewee  threw  off  his  coat, 
while  Jack  did  the  same. 


A   BATTLE.  43 


"  You'll  quit  when  I  say  '  enough,'  won't  you  ?  "  said 
Jack. 

"Yes,  I'll  fight  fair,  and  hold  up  when  you've  got 
enough." 

"Well,  then,  for  that  matter,  I've  got  enough  now. 
I'll  take  the  will  for  the  deed,  and  just  say  '  enough  '  be- 
fore you  begin,"  and  he  turned  to  pick  up  his  coat. 

"  No,  you  don't  get  off  that  way,"  said  Pewee. 
"  You've  got  to  stand  up  and  see  who  is  the  best  man,  or 
I'll  kick  you  all  the  way  home." 

"  Didn't  you  ever  hear  about  Davy  Crockett's  'coon  ?  " 
said  Jack.  "  When  the  'coon  saw  him  taking  aim,  it 
said  :  '  Is  that  you,  Crockett  ?  Well,  don't  fire — I'll  come 
down  anyway.  I  know  you'll  hit  anything  you  shoot  at.' 
Now,  I'm  that  'coon.  If  it  was  anybody  but  you,  I'd  fight. 
But  as  it's  you,  Pewee,  I  might  just  as  well  come  down 
before  you  begin." 

Pewee  was  flattered  by  this  way  of  putting  the 
question.  Had  he  been  alone,  Jack  would  have  escaped. 
But  Will  Riley,  remembering  all  he  had  endured  from 
Jack's  retorts,  said  : 

"  Oh,  give  it  to  him,  Pewee  ;  he's  always  making 
trouble." 

At  which  Pewee  squared  himself  off,  doubled  up 
his  fists,  and  came  at  the  slenderer  Jack.  The  latter 
prepared  to  meet  him,  but,  after  all,  it  was  hard  for 
Pewee  to  beat  so  good-humored  a  fellow  as  Jack.  The 


44  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL- BOY. 

king's  heart  failed  him,  and  suddenly  he  backed  off, 
saying  : 

"  If  you'll  agree  to  help  Riley  and  me  out  with  our 
lessons  hereafter,  I'll  let  you  off.  If  you  don't,  I'll  thrash 
you  within  an  inch  of  your  life."  And  Pewee  stood 
ready  to  begin. 

Jack  wanted  to  escape  the  merciless  beating  that 
Pewee  had  in  store  for  him.  But  it  was  quite  impossible 
for  him  to  submit  under  a  threat.  So  he  answered  : 

"  If  you  and  Riley  will  treat  me  as  you  ought  to,  I'll 
help  you  when  you  ask  me,  as  I  always  have.  But  even 
if  you  pound  me  into  jelly  I  won't  agree  to  help  you, 
unless  you  treat  me  right.  I  won't  be  bullied  into  help- 
ing you." 

"  Give  it  to  him,  Pewee,"  said  Ben  Berry  ;  "  he's  too 
sassy." 

Pewee  was  a  rather  good-natured  dog — he  had  to  be 
set  on.  He  now  began  to  strike  at  Jack.  Whether  he 
was  to  be  killed  or  not,  Jack  did  not  know,  but  he  was 
resolved  not  to  submit  to  the  bully.  Yet  he  could  not 
do  much  at  defence  against  Pewee's  hard  fists.  However, 
Jack  was  active  and  had  long  limbs  ;  he  soon  saw  that  he 
must  do  something  more  than  stand  up  to  be  beaten. 
So,  when  King  Pewee,  fighting  in  the  irregular  Western 
fashion,  and  hoping  to  get  a  decided  advantage  at  once, 
rushed  upon  Jack  and  pulled  his  head  forward,  Jack 
stooped  lower  than  his  enemy  expected,  and,  thrusting 


A   BATTLE.  45 


his  head  between  Pevvee's  knees,  shoved  his  legs  from 
under  him,  and  by  using  all  his  strength  threw  Pewee 
over  his  own  back,  so  that  the  king's  nose  and  eyes 
fell  into  the  dust  of  the  village  street. 

"  I'll  pay  you  for  that,"  growled  Pewee,  as  he  re-' 
covered  himself,  now  thoroughly  infuriated  ;  and  with  a 
single  blow  he  sent  Jack  flat  on  his  back,  and  then 
proceeded  to  pound  him.  Jack  could  do  nothing  now 
but  shelter  his  eyes  from  Pewee's  blows. 

Joanna  Merwin  had  seen  the  beginning  of  the  battle 
from  her  father's  house,  and  feeling  sure  that  Jack  would 
be  killed,  she  had  run  swiftly  down  the  garden  walk  to 
the  back  gate,  through  which  she  slipped  into  the  alley ; 
and  then  she  hurried  on,  as  fast  as  her  feet  would  carry 
her,  to  the  blacksrnith-shop  of  Pewee  Rose's  father. 

"  Oh,  please,  Mr.  Rose,  come  quick  !  Pewee's  just 
killing  a  boy  in  the  street." 

"  Vitin'  ag'in,"  said  Mr.  Rose,  who  was  a  Pennsylvan- 
ian  from  the  limestone  country,  and  spoke"  English  with 
difficulty.  "  He  ees  a  leetle  ruffen,  dat  poy.  I'll  see 
apout  him  right  avay  a'ready,  may  be." 

And  without  waiting  to  put  off  his  leathern  apron,  he 
walked  briskly  in  the  direction  indicated  by  Joanna.  Pewee 
was  hammering  Jack  without  pity,  when  suddenly  he  was 
caught  by  the  collar  and  lifted  sharply  to  his  feet. 

"  Wot  you  doin'  down  dare  in  de  dirt  wunst  a'ready  ? 
Hey  ?  "  said  Mr.  Rose,  as  he  shook  his  son  with  the  full 


46  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL- BOY. 

force  of  his  right  arm,  and  cuffed  him  with  his  left  hand. 
"  Didn't  I  dells  you  I'd  gill  you  some  day  if  you  didn't 
gwit  vitin'  mit  oder  poys,  a'ready  ?  " 

"  He  commenced  it,"  whimpered  Pewee. 

"  You  dells  a  pig  lie  a'ready,  I  beleefs,  Peter,  and  I'll 
whip  you  fur  lyin'  besides  wunst  more.  Fellers  like  him," 
pointing  to  Jack,  who'  was  brushing  the  dust  off  his  clothes, 
— "  fellers  like  him  don't  gommence  on  such  a  poy  as  you. 
You're  such  anoder  viter  I  never  seed."  And  he  shook 
Pewee  savagely. 

"  I  won't  do  it  no  more,"  begged  Pewee — "  'pon  my 
word  and  honor  I  won't." 

"  Oh,  you  don't  gits  off  dat  away  no  more,  a'ready. 
You  know  what  I'll  giff  you  when  I  git  you  home,  you 
leedle  ruffen.  I  shows  you  how  to  vite,  a'ready." 

And  the  king  disappeared  down  the  street,  begging 
like  a  spaniel,  and  vowing  that  he  "  wouldn't  do  it  no 
more."  But  he  got  a  severe  whipping,  I  fear  ; — it  is  doubt- 
ful if  such  beatings  ever  do  any  good.  The  next  morning 
Jack  appeared  at  school  with  a  black  eye,  and  Pewee  had 
some  scratches,  so  the  master  whipped  them  both  for 
fighting. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HAT-BALL    AND    BULL-PEN. 

PEWEE  did  not  renew  the  quarrel  with  Jack — perhaps 
from  fear  of  the  rawhide  that  hung  in  the  blacksmith's 
shop,  or  of  the  master's  ox-gad,  or  of  Bob  Holliday's 
fists,  or  perhaps  from  a  hope  of  conciliating  Jack  and  get- 
ting occasional  help  in  his  lessons.  Jack  was  still  excluded 
from  the  favorite  game  of  "  bull-pen."  I  am  not  sure  that 
he  would  have  been  rejected  had  he  asked  for  admission, 
but  he  did  not  want  to  risk  another  refusal.  He  planned 
a  less  direct  way  of  getting  into  the  game.  Asking  his 
mother  for  a  worn-out  stocking,  and  procuring  an  old 
boot-top,  he  ravelled  the  stocking,  winding  the  yarn  into 
a  ball  of  medium  hardness.  Then  he  cut  from  the  boot- 
top  a  square  of  leather  large  enough  for  his  purpose. 
This  he  laid  on  the  kitchen -table,  and  proceeded  to  mark 
off  and  cut  it  into  the  shape  of  an  orange-peel  that  has 
been  quartered  off  the  orange,  leaving  the  four  quarters 
joined  together  at  the  middle.  This  leather  he  put  to 
soak  over  night.  The  next  morning,  bright  and  early, 
with  a  big  needle  and  some  strong  thread  he  sewed  it 
around  his  yarn-ball,  stretching  the  wet  leather  to  its  ut- 


48  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

most,  so  that  when  it  should  contract  the  ball  should  be 
firm  and  hard,  and  the  leather  well  moulded  to  it.  Such  a 
ball  is  far  better  for  all  play  in  which  the  player  is  to  be 
hit  than  those  sold  in  the  stores  nowadays.  I  have  de- 
scribed the  manufacture  of  the  old-fashioned  home-made 
ball,  because  there  are  some  boys,  especially  in  the  towns, 
who  have  lost  the  art  of  making  yarn  balls. 

When  Jack  had  finished  his  ball,  he  let  it  dry,  while 
he  ate  his  breakfast  and  did  his  chores.  Then  he 
sallied  out  and  found  Bob  Holliday,  and  showed  him  the 
result  of  his  work.  Bob  squeezed  it,  felt  its  weight, 
bounced  it  against  a  wall,  tossed  it  high  in  the  air,  caught 
it,  and  then  bounced  it  on  the  ground.  Having  thus 
"  put  it  through  its  paces,"  he  pronounced  it  an  excellent 
ball, — "a  good  deal  better  than  Ben  Berry's  ball.  But 
what  are  you  going  to  do  with  it  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Play 
Anthony-over  ?  The  little  boys  can  play  that." 

I  suppose  there  are  boys  in  these  days  who  do  not 
know  what  "  Anthony-over  "  is.  How,  indeed,  can  any- 
body play  Anthony-over  in  a  crowded  city  ? 

The  old  one-story  village  school-houses  stood  gener- 
ally in  an  open  green.  The  boys  divided  into  two 
parties,  the  one  going  on  one  side,  and  the  other  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  school-house.  The  party  that  had 
the  ball  would  shout  "  Anthony  !  "  The  others  re- 
sponded, "  Over  !  "  To  this,  answer  was  made  from 
the  first  party,  "  Over  she  comes  !  "  and  the  ball  was 


HAT-BALL  AND    BULL-PEN.  49 

immediately  thrown  over  the  school-house.  If  any  of 
the  second  party  caught  it,  they  rushed,  pell-mell,  around 
both  ends  of  the  school-house  to  the  other  side,  and  that 
one  of  them  who  held  the  ball  essayed  to  hit  some  one 
of  the  opposite  party  before  they  could  exchange  sides. 
If  a  boy  was  hit  by  the  ball  thus  thrown  he  was  counted 
as  captured  to  the  opposite  party,  and  he  gave  all  his 
efforts  to  beat  his  old  allies.  So  the  game  went  on,  until 
all  the  players  of  one  side  were  captured  by  the  others. 
I  don't  know  what  Anthony  means  in  this  game,  but  no 
doubt  the  game  is  hundreds  of  years  old,  and  was  played 
in  English  villages  before  the  first  colony  came  to  James- 
town. 

"  I'm  not  going  to  play  Anthony-over,"  said  Jack. 
"  I'm  going  to  show  King  Pewee  a  new  trick." 

"  You  can't  get  up  a  game  of  bull-pen  on  your  own 
hook,  and  play  the  four  corners  and  the  ring  all  by  your- 
self." 

"  No,  I  don't  mean  that.  I'm  going  to  show  the 
boys  how  to  play  hat-ball — a  game  they  used  to  play 
on  the  Wildcat." 

"  I  see  your  point.  You  are  going  to  make  Pewee 
ask  you  to  let  him  in,"  said  Bob,  and  the  two  boys  set 
out  for  school  together,  Jack  explaining  the  game  to 
Bob.  They  found  one  or  two  boys  already  there,  and 
when  Jack  showed  his  new  ball  and  proposed  a  new 
game,  they  fell  in  with  it. 
3 


5O  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

The  boys  stood  their  hats  in  a  row  on  the  grass.  The 
one  with  the  ball  stood  over  the  row  of  hats,  and"5wung 
his  hand  to  and  fro  above  them,  while  the  boys  stood  by 
him,  prepared  to  run  as  soon  as  the  ball  should  drop 
into  a  hat.  The  boy  who  held  the  ball,  after  one  or  two 
false  motions, — now  toward  this  hat,  and  now  toward 
that  one, — would  drop  the  ball  into  Somebody's  hat. 
Somebody  would  rush  to  his  hat,  seize  the  ball,  and 
throw  it  at  one  of  the  other  boys  who  were  fleeing  in 
all  directions.  If  he  hit  Somebody-Else,  Somebody-Else 
might  throw  from  where  the  ball  lay,  or  from  the  hats, 
at  the  rest,  and  so  on,  until  some  one  missed.  The  one 
who  missed  took  up  his  hat  and  left  the  play,  and  the 
boy  who  picked  up  the  ball  proceeded  to  drop  it  into  a 
hat,  and  the  game  went  on  until  all  but  one  were  put  out. 

Hat-ball  is  so  simple  that  any  number  can  play  at  it, 
and  Jack's  friends  found  it  so  full  of  boisterous  fun,  that 
every  new-comer  wished  to  set  down  his  hat.  And  thus, 
by  the  time  Pewee  and  Riley  arrived,  half  the  larger  boys 
in  the  school  were  in  the  game,  and  there  were  not 
enough  left  to  make  a  good  game  of  bull-pen. 

At  noon,  the  new  game  drew  the  attention  of  the  boys 
again,  and  Riley  and  Pewee  tried  in  vain  to  coax  them 
away. 

"Oh,  I  say,  come  on,  fellows!"  Riley  would  say. 
"  Come — let's  play  something  worth  playing." 

But  the  boys  stayed  by  the  new  game  and  the  new  ball 


HAT-BALL   AND   BULL-PEN. 


Neither  Riley,  nor  Pewee,  nor  Ben  Berry  liked  to  ask  to 
be  let  into  the  game,  after  what  had  passed.  Not  one  of 
them  had  spoken  to  Jack  since  the  battle  between  him 
and  Pewee,  and  they  didn't  care  to  play  with  Jack's  ball 
in  a  game  of  his  starting. 

Once  the  other  boys  had  broken  away  from  Pewee's 
domination,  they  were  pleased  to  feel  themselves  free. 
As  for  Pewee  and  his  friends,  they  climbed  up  on  a  fence, 
and  sat  like  three  crows  watching  the  play  of  the  others. 
After  a  while  they  got  down  in  disgust,  and  went  off,  not 
knowing  just  what  to  do.  When  once  they  were  out  of 
sight,  Jack  winked  at  Bob,  who  said  : 

"  I  say,  boys,  we  can  play  hat-ball  at  recess  when 
there  isn't  time  for  bull-pen.  Let's  have  a  game  of  bull- 
pen now,  before  school  takes  up." 

It  was  done  in  a  minute.  Bob  Holliday  and  Tom 
Taylor  "  chose  up  sides,"  the  bases  were  all  ready,  and 
by  the  time  Pewee  and  his  aids-de-camp  had  walked  dis- 
consolately to  the  pond  and  back,  the  boys  were  engaged 
in  a  good  game  of  bull-pen. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  something  about  the  princi- 
ples of  a  game  so.  little  known  over  the  country  at  large. 
I  have  never  seen  it  played  anywhere  but  in  a  narrow  bit 
of  country  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  yet  there  is  no  merrier 
game  played  with  a  ball. 

The  ball  must  not  be  too  hard.  There  should  be  four 
or  more  corners.  The  space  inside  is  called  the  pen,  and 


52  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

the  party  winning  the  last  game  always  has  the  corners. 
The  ball  is  tossed  from  one  corner  to  another,  and  when 
it  has  gone  around  once,  any  boy  on  a  corner  may,  imme- 
diately after  catching  the  ball  thrown  to  him  from  any  of 
the  four  corners,  throw  it  at  any  one  in  the  pen.  He 
must  throw  while  "  the  ball  is  hot," — that  is,  instantly  on 
catching  it.  If  he  fails  to  hit  anybody  on  the  other  side, 
he  goes  out.  If  he  hits,  his  side  leave  the  corners  and 
run  as  they  please,  for  the  boy  who  has  been  hit  may 
throw  from  where  the  ball  fell,  or  from  any  corner,  at  any 
one  of  the  side  holding  the  corners.  If  one  of  them  is 
hit,  he  has  the  same  privilege  ;  but  now  the  men  in  the 
pen  are  allowed  to  scatter  also.  Whoever  misses  is 
"  out,"  and  the  play  is  resumed  from  the  corners  until  all 
of  one  side  is  out.  When  but  two  are  left  on  the  corners 
the  ball  is  smuggled, — that  is.  one  hides  the  ball  in  his 
bosom,  and  the  other  pretends  that  he  has  it  also.  The 
boys  in  the  ring  do  not  know  which  has  it,  and  the  two 
"  run  the  corners,"  throwing  from  any  corner.  If  but 
one  is  left  on  the  corners,  he  is  allowed  also  to  run  from 
corner  to  corner. 

It  happened  that  Jack's  side  lost  on  the  toss-up  for 
corners,  and  he  got  into  the  ring,  where  his  play  showed 
better  than  it  would  have  done  on  the  corners.  As  Jack 
was  the  greenhorn  and  the  last  chosen  on  his  side,  the 
players  on  the  corners  expected  to  make  light  work  of 
him  ;  but  he  was  an  adroit  dodger,  and  he  put  out  three 


HAT-BALL  AND   BULL-PEN.  53 


of  the  boys  on  the  corners  by  his  unexpected  way  of 
evading  a  ball.  Everybody  who  has  ever  played  this 
fine  old  game  knows  that  expertness  in  dodging  is  worth 
quite  as  much  as  skill  in  throwing.  Pewee  was  a  famous 
hand  with  a  ball,  Riley  could  dodge  well,  Ben  Berry  had 
a  happy  knack  of  dropping  flat  upon  the  ground  and  let- 
ing  a  ball  pass  over  him,  Bob  Holliday  could  run  well  in 
a  counter  charge  ;  but  nothing  could  be  more  effective 
than  Jack  Dudley's  quiet  way  of  stepping  forward  or 
backward,  bending  his  lithe  body  or  spreading  his  legs  to 
let  the  ball  pass,  according  to  the  course  which  it  took 
from  the  player's  hand. 

King  Pewee  and  company  came  back  in  time  to  see 
Jack  dodge  three  balls  thrown  point-blank  at  him  from 
a  distance  of  fifteen  feet.  It  was  like  witchcraft — he 
seemed  to  be  charmed.  Every  dodge  was  greeted  with 
a  shout,  and  when  once  he  luckily  caught  the  ball  thrown 
at  him,  and  thus  put  out  the  thrower,  there  was  no  end 
of  admiration  of  his  playing.  It  was  now  evident  to  all 
that  Jack  could  no  longer  be  excluded  from  the  game, 
and  that,  next  to  Pewee  himself,  he  was  already  the  best 
player  on  the  ground. 

At  recess  that  afternoon,  Pewee  set  his  hat  down  in 
the  hat-ball  row,  and  as  Jack  did  not  object,  Riley  and 
Ben  Berry  did  the  same.  The  next  day  Pewee  chose 
Jack  first  in  bull-pen,  and  the  game  was  well  played. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   DEFENDER. 

IF  Jack  had  not  about  this  time  undertaken  the  de- 
fence of  the  little  boy  in  the  Fourth  Reader,  whose  name 
was  large  enough  to  cover  the  principal  points  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  New  World,  he  might  have  had  peace,  for 
Jack  was  no  longer  one  of  the  newest  scholars,  his  cour- 
age was  respected  by  Pewee,  and  he  kept  poor  Riley  in 
continual  fear  of  his  ridicule — making  him  smart  every 
day.  But,  just  when  he  might  have  had  a  little  peace 
and  happiness,  he  became  the  defender  of  Christopher 
Columbus  George  Washington  Marquis  de  la  Fayette 
Risdale— little  "  Andsoforth,"  as  Riley  and  the  other 
boys  had  nicknamed  him. 

The  strange,  pinched  little  body  of  the  boy,  his  ec- 
centric ways,  his  quickness  in  learning,  and  his  infantile 
simplicity  had  all  conspired  to  win  the  affection  of  Jack, 
so  that  he  would  have  protected  him  even  without  the 
solicitation  of  Susan  Lanham.  But  since  Susan  had  been 
Jack's  own  first  and  fast  friend,  he  felt  in  honor  bound  to 
run  all  risks  in  the  care  of  her  strange  little  cousin. 

I  think  that  Columbus's  child-like  ways  might  have 
protected  him  even  from  Riley  and  his  set,  if  it  had  not 


THE   DEFENDER.  55 


been  that  he  was  related  to  Susan  Lanham,  and  under 
her  protection.  It  was  the  only  chance  for  Riley  to  re- 
venge himself  on  Susan.  She  was  more  than  a  match 
for  him  in  wit,  and  she  was  not  a  proper  subject  for 
Pewee's  fists.  So  with  that  heartlessness  which  belongs 
to  the  school-boy  bully,  he  resolved  to  torment  the 
helpless  fellow  in  revenge  for  Susan's  sarcasms. 

One  morning,  smarting  under  some  recent  taunt  of 
Susan's,  Riley  caught  little  Columbus  almost  alone  in  the 
school-room.  Here  was  a  boy  who  certainly  would  not 
be  likely  to  strike  back  again.  His  bamboo  legs,  his 
spindling  arms,  his  pale  face,  his  contracted  chest,  all 
gave  the  coward  a  perfect  assurance  of  safety.  So,  with 
a  rude  pretence  at  play,  laughing  all  the  time,  he  caught 
the  lad  by  the  throat,  and  in  spite  of  his  weird  dignity 
and  pleading  gentleness,  shoved  him  back  against  the 
wall  behind  the  master's  empty  chair.  Holding  him 
here  a  minute  in  suspense,  he  began  slapping  him,  first 
on  this  side  of  the  face  and  then  on  that.  The  pale 
cheeks  burned  red  with  pain  and  fright,  but  Columbus 
did  not  cry  out,  though  the  constantly  increasing  sharp- 
ness of  the  blows,  and  the  sense  of  weakness,  degrada- 
tion, and  terror,  stung  him  severely.  Riley  thought  it 
funny.  Like  a  cat  playing  with  a  condemned  mouse,  the 
cruel  fellow  actually  enjoyed  finding  one  person  weak 
enough  to  be  afraid  of  him. 

Columbus  twisted  about  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  escape 


56  THE    HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

from  Riley's  clutches,  getting  only  a  sharper  cuff  for  his 
pains.  Ben  Berry,  arriving  presently,  enjoyed  the  sport, 
while  some  of  the  smaller  boys  and  girls,  coming  in,  look- 
ed on  the  scene  of  torture  in  helpless  pity.  And  ever, 
as  more  and  more  of  the  scholars  gathered,  Columbus 
felt  more  and  more  mortified  ;  the  tears  were  in  his  great 
sad  eyes,  but  he  made  no  sound  of  crying  or  complaint. 

Jack  Dudley  came  in  at  last,  and  marched  straight  up 
to  Riley,  who  let  go  his  hold  and  backed  off.  "  You 
mean,  cowardly,  pitiful  villain  !  "  broke  out  Jack,  advan- 
cing on  him. 

"  I  didn't  do  anything  to  you,"  whined  Riley,  back- 
ing into  a  corner. 

"  No,  but  I  mean  to  do  something  to  you.  If  there's 
an  inch  of  man  in  you,  come  right  on  and  fight  with  me. 
You  daren't  do  it." 

"  I  don't  want  any  quarrel  with  you." 

"  No,  you  quarrel  with  babies." 

Here  all  the  boys  and  girls  jeered. 

"  You're  too  hard  on  a  fellow,  Jack,"  whined  the 
scared  Riley,  slipping  out  of  the  corner  and  continuing  to 
back  down  the  school-room,  while  Jack  kept  slowly 
following  him. 

"You're  a  great  deal  bigger  than  I  am,"  said  Jack. 
"  Why  don't  you  try  to  corner  me  ?  Oh,  I  could  just 
beat  the  breath  out  of  you,  you  great,  big,  good  for 
nothing " 


THE   DEFENDER.  57 


Here  Riley  pulled  the  west  door  open,  and  Jack,  at 
the  same  moment,  struck  him.  Riley  half  dropped,  half 
fell,  through  the  door-way,  scared  so  badly  that  he  went 
sprawling  on  the  ground.  , 

The  boys  shouted  "  coward  "  and  "  baby  "  after  him 
as  he  sneaked  off,  but  Jack  went  back  to  comfort  Col- 
umbus and  to  get  control  of  his  temper.  For  it  is  not 
wise,  as  Jack  soon  reflected,  even  in  a  good  cause  to  lose 
your  self-control. 

"  It  was  good  of  you  to  interfere,"  said  Susan,  when 
she  had  come  in  and  learned  all  about  it. 

"  I  should  have  been  a  brute  if  I  hadn't,"  said  Jack, 
pleased  none  the  less  with  her  praise.  "  But  it  doesn't 
take  any  courage  to  back  Riley  out  of  a  school-house. 
One  could  get  more  fight  out  of  a  yearling  calf.  I  sup- 
pose I've  got  to  take  a  beating  from  Pewee,  though." 

"  Go  and  see  him  about  it,  before  Riley  talks  to 
him,"  suggested  Susan.  And  Jack  saw  the  prudence  of 
this  course.  As  he  left  the  school-house  at  a  rapid 
pace,  Ben  Berry  told  Riley,  who  was  skulking  behind  a 
fence,  that  Jack  was  afraid  of  Pewee. 

"Pewee,"  said  Jack,  when  he  met  him  starting  to 
school,  after  having  done  his  "  chores,"  including  the 
milking  of  his  cow, — "  Pewee,  I  want  to  say  something  to 
you." 

Jack's  tone  and  manner  flattered  Pewee.  One  thing 
that  keeps  a  rowdy  a  rowdy  is  the  thought  that  better 


58  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

people  despise  him.  Pewee  felt  in  his  heart  that  Jack 
had  a  contempt  for  him,  and  this  it  was  that  made  him 
hate  Jack  in  turn.  But  now  that  the  latter  sought  him 
in  a  friendly  way,  he  felt  himself  lifted  up  into  a  dignity 
hitherto  unknown  to  him.  "  What  is  it  ?  " 

"  You  are  a  kind  of  king  among  the  boys,"  said  Jack. 
Pewee  grew  an  inch  taller. 

"They  are  all  afraid  of  you.  Now,  why  don't  you 
make  us  fellows  behave  ?  You  ought  to  protect  the  little 
boys  from  fellows  that  impose  on  them.  Then  you'd  be 
a  king  worth  the  having.  All  the  boys  and  girls  would 
like  you." 

"  I  s'pose  may  be  that's  so,"  said  the  king. 

"  There's  poor  little  Columbus  Risdale " 

"  I  don't  like  him,"  said  Pewee. 

"  You  mean  you  don't  like  Susan.  She  is  a  little  sharp 
with  her  tongue;  But  you  wouldn't  fight  with  a  baby — 
it  isn't  like  you." 

"  No,  sir-ee,"  said  Pewee. 

"  You'd  rather  take  a  big  boy  than  a  little  one.  Now, 
you  ought  to  make  Riley  let  Lummy  alone." 

"  I'll  do  that,"  said  Pewee.  "  Riley's  about  a  million 
times  bigger  than  Lum." 

"  I  went  to  the  school-house  this  morning,"  continued 
Jack,  "and  I  found  Riley  choking,  and  beating  him. 
And  I  thought  I'd  just  speak  to  you,  and  see  if  you  can't 
make  him  stop  it." 


THE   DEFENDER.  59 


"  I'll  do  that,"  said  Pewee,  walking  along  with  great 
dignity. 

When  Ben  Berry  and  Riley  saw  Pewee  coming  in 
company  with  Jack,  they  were  amazed  and  hung  their 
heads,  afraid  to  say  anything  even  to  each  other.  Jack 
and  Pewee  walked  straight  up  to  the  fence-corner  in 
which  they  stood. 

"  I  thought  I'd  see  what  King  Pewee  would  say 
about  your  fighting  with  babies,  Riley,"  said  Jack. 

"  I  want  you  fellows  to  understand,"  said  Pewee,  "  that 
I'm  not  going  to  have  that  little  Lum  Risdale  hurt.  If 
you  want  to  fight,  why  don't  you  fight  somebody  your  own 
size  ?  I  don't  fight  babies  myself,"  and  here  Pewee  drew 
his  head  up,  "  and  I  don't  stand  by  any  boy  that  does." 

Poor  Riley  felt  the  last  support  drop  from  under  him. 
Pewee  had  deserted  him,  and  he  was  now  an  orphan,  un- 
protected in  an  unfriendly  world  ! 

Jack  knew  that  the  truce  with  so  vain  a  fellow  as 
Pewee  could  not  last  long,  but  it  served  its  purpose  for 
the  time.  And  when,  after  school,  Susan  Lanham  took 
pains  to  go  and  thank  Pewee  for  standing  up  for  Colum- 
bus, Pewee  felt  himself  every  inch  a  king,  and  for  the 
time  he  was — if  not  a  "  reformed  prize-fighter,"  such  as 
one  hears  of  sometimes,  at  least  an  improved  boy.  The 
trouble  with  vain  people  like  Pewee  is,  that  they  have  no 
stability.  They  bend  the  way  the  wind  blows,  and  for 
the  most  part  the  wind  blows  from  the  wrong  quarter. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

PIGEON    POT-PIE. 

HAPPY  boys  and  girls  that  go  to  school  nowadays ! 
You  have  to  study  harder  than  the  generations  before 
you,  it  is  true  ;  you  miss  the  jolly  spelling-schools,  and 
the  good  old  games  that  were  not  half  so  scientific  as 
base-ball,  lawn  tennis,  or  lacrosse,  but  that  had  ten  times 
more  fun  and  frolic  in  them  ;  but  all  this  is  made  up  to 
you  by  the  fact  that  you  escape  the  tyrannical  old  master. 
Whatever  the  faults  the  teachers  of  this  day  may  have, 
they  do  not  generally  lacerate  the  backs  of  their  pupils, 
as  did  some  of  their  fore-runners. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  thirty  years  ago,  a  bet- 
ter race  of  school-masters  was  crowding  out  the  old,  but 
many  of  the  latter  class,  with  their  terrible  switches  and 
cruel  beatings,  kept  their  ground  until  they  died  off  one 
by  one,  and  relieved  the  world  of  their  odious  ways. 

Mr.  Ball  wouldn't  die  to  please  anybody.  He  was  a 
bachelor,  and  had  no  liking  for  children,  but  taught  school 
five  or  six  months  in  winter  to  avoid  having  to  work  on  a 
farm  in  the  summer.  He  had  taught  in  Greenbank  every 
winter  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  having  never 


PIGEON   POT-PIE.  6l 

learned  to  win  anybody's  affection,  had  been  obliged  to 
teach  those  who  disliked  him.  This  atmosphere  of 
mutual  dislike  will  sour  the  sweetest  temper,  and  Mr. 
Ball's  temper  had  not  been  strained  honey  to  begin  with. 
Year  by  year  he  grew  more  and  more  severe — he  whipped 
for  poor  lessons,  he  whipped  for  speaking  in  school,  he 
took  down  his  switch  for  not  speaking  loud  enough  in 
class,  he  whipped  for  coming  late  to  school,  he  whipped 
because  a  scholar  made  a  noise  with  his  feet,  and  he 
whipped  because  he  himself  had  eaten  something  un- 
wholesome for  his  breakfast.  The  brutality  of  a  master 
produces  like  qualities  in  scholars.  The  boys  drew 
caricatures  on  the  blackboard,  put  living  cats  or  dead 
ones  into  Mr.  Ball's  desk,  and  tried  to  drive  him  wild  by 
their  many  devices. 

He  would  walk  up  and  down  the  school-room  seeking 
a  victim,  and  he  had  as  much  pleasure  in  beating  a  girl  or 
a  little  boy  as  in  punishing  an  overgrown  fellow. 

And  yet  I  cannot  say  that  Mr.  Ball  was  impartial. 
There  were  some  pupils  that  escaped.  Susan  Lanham 
was  not  punished,  because  her  father,  Dr.  Lanham,  was 
a  very  influential  man  in  the  town  ;  and  the  faults  of 
Henry  Weathervane  and  his  sister  were  always  over- 
looked after  their  father  became  a  school  trustee. 

Many  efforts  had  been  made  to  put  a  new  master  into 
the  school.  But  Mr.  Ball's  brother-in-law  was  one  of  the 
principal  merchants  in  the  place,  and  the  old  man  had  had 


62  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

the  school  so  long  that  it  seemed  like  robbery  to  deprive 
him  of  it.  It  had  come,  in  some  sort,  to  belong  to  him. 
People  hated  to  see  him  moved.  He  would  die  some 
day,  they  said,  and  nobody  could  deny  that,  though  it 
often  seemed  to  the  boys  and  girls  that  he  would  never 
die ;  he  was  more  likely  to  dry  up  and  blow  away.  And 
it  was  a  long  time  to  wait  for  that. 

And  yet  I  think  Greenbank  might  have  had  to  wait  for 
something  like  that  if  there  hadn't  come  a  great  flight  of 
pigeons  just  at  this  time.  For  whenever  Susan  Lanham 
suggested  to  her  father  that  he  should  try  to  get  Mr.  Ball 
removed  and  a  new  teacher  appointed,  Dr.  Lanham 
smiled  and  said  "  he  hated  to  move  against  the  old  man  ; 
he'd  been  there  so  long,  you  know,  and  he  probably 
wouldn't  live  long,  anyhow.  Something  ought  to  be 
done,  perhaps,  but  he  couldn't  meddle  with  him."  For 
older  people  forgot  the  beatings  they  had  endured,  and 
remembered  the  old  man  only  as  one  of  the  venerable 
landmarks  of  their  childhood. 

And  so,  by  favor  of  Henry  Weathervane's  father, 
whose  children  he  did  not  punish,  and  by  favor  of  other 
people's  neglect  and  forgetfulness,  the  Greenbank  chil- 
dren might  have  had  to  face  and  fear  the  old  ogre  down  to 
this  day,  or  until  he  dried  up  and  blew  away,  if  it  hadn't 
been,  as  I  said,  that  there  came  a  great  flight  of  pigeons. 

A  flight  of  pigeons  is  not  uncommon  in  the  Ohio 
River  country.  Audubon,  the  great  naturalist,  saw  them 


PIGEON   POT-PIE.  63 


in  his  day,  and  in  old  colonial  times  such  flights  took 
place  in  the  settlements  on  the  sea-board,  and  sometimes 
the  starving  colonists  were  able  to  knock  down  pigeons 
with  sticks.  The  mathematician  is  not  yet  born  who  can 
count  the  number  of  pigeons  in  one  of  these  sky-darken- 
ing flocks,  which  are  often  many  miles  in  length,  and  which 
follow  one  another  for  a  whole  day.  The  birds,  for  the 
most  part,  fly  at  a  considerable  height  from  the  earth,  but 
when  they  are  crossing  a  wide  valley,  like  that  of  the 
Ohio  River,  they  drop  down  to  a  lower  level,  and  so 
reach  the  hills  quite  close  to  the  ground,  and  within  easy 
gunshot. 

When  the  pigeon  flight  comes  on  Saturday,  it  is  very 
convenient  for  those  boys  that  have  guns.  If  these 
pigeons  had  only  come  on  Saturday  instead  of  on  Mon- 
day, Mr.  Ball  might  have  taught  the  Greenbank  school 
until  to-day, — that  is  to  say,  if  he  hadn't  died  or  quite 
dried  up  and  blown  off  meanwhile. 

For  when  Riley  and  Ben  Berry  saw  this  flight  of  pigeons 
begin  on  Monday  morning,  they  remembered  that  the 
geography  lesson  was  a  hard  one,  and  so  they  played 
"hooky,"  and,  taking  their  guns  with  them,  hid  in  the 
bushes  at  the  top  of  the  hill.  Then,  as  the  birds  struck 
the  hill,  and  beat  their  way  up  over  the  brow  of  it,  the 
boys,  lying  in  ambush,  had  only  to  fire  into  the  flock  with- 
out taking  aim,  and  the  birds  would  drop  all  around  them. 
The  discharge  of  the  guns  made  Bob  Holliday  so  hungry 


64  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

for  pigeon  pot-pie,  that  he,  too,  ran  away  from  school,  at 
recess,  and  took  his  place  among  the  pigeon-slayers  in  the 
paw-paw  patch  on  the  hill  top. 

Tuesday  morning,  Mr.  Ball  came  in  with  darkened 
brows,  and  three  extra  switches.  Riley,  Berry,  and  Hol- 
liday  were  called  up  as  soon  as  school  began.  They  had 
pigeon  pot-pie  for  dinner,  but  they  also  had  sore  backs 
for  three  days,  and  Bob  laughingly  said  that  he  knew  just 
how  a  pigeon  felt  when  it  was  basted. 

The  day  after  the  whipping  and  the  pigeon  pot-pie, 
when  the  sun  shone  warm  at  noon,  the  fire  was  allowed  to 
go  down  in  the  stove.  All  were  at  play  in  the  sunshine, 
excepting  Columbus  Risdale,  who  sat  solitary,  like  a  dis- 
consolate screech-owl,  in  one  corner  of  the  room.  Riley 
and  Ben  Berry,  still  smarting  from  yesterday,  entered,  and 
without  observing  Lummy's  presence,  proceeded  to  put 
some  gunpowder  in  the  stove,  taking  pains  to  surround  it 
with  cool  ashes,  so  that  it  should  not  explode  until  the 
stirring  of  the  fire,  as  the  chill  of  the  afternoon  should 
come  on.  When  they  had  finished  this  dangerous  trans- 
action, they  discovered  the  presence  of  Columbus  in  his 
corner,  looking  at  them  with  large-eyed  wonder  and  alarm. 

"  If  you  ever  tell  a  living  soul  about  that,  we'll  kill 
you,"  said  Ben  Berry. 

Riley  also  threatened  the  scared  little  rabbit,  and  both 
felt  safe  from  detection. 

An  hour  after  school  had  resumed  its  session.     Col- 


PIGEON   POT-PIE.  65 


umbus,  who  had  sat  shivering  with  terror  all  the  time, 
wrote  on  his  slate  : 

"  Will  Riley  and  Ben  B.  put  something  in  the  stove. 
Said  they  would  kill  me  if  I  told  on  them." 

This  he  passed  to  Jack,  who  sat  next  to  him.  Jack 
rubbed  it  out  as  soon  as  he  had  read  it,  and  wrote  : 

"  Don't  tell  anybody." 

Jack  could  not  guess  what  they  had  put  in.  It  might 
be  coffee-nuts,  which  would  explode  harmlessly  ;  it  might 
be  something  that  would  give  a  bad  smell  in  burning,  such 
as  chicken -feathers.  If  he  had  thought  that  it  was  gun- 
powder, he  would  have  plucked  up  courage  enough  to 
give  the  master  some  warning,  though  he  might  have  got 
only  a  whipping  for  his  pains.  While  Jack  was  debating 
what  he  should  do,  the  master  called  the  Fourth-Reader 
class.  At  the  close  of  the  lesson  he  noticed  that  Colum- 
bus was  shivering,  though  indeed  it  was  more  from  terror 
than  from  cold. 

"  Go  to  the  stove  and  stir  up  the  fire,  and  get  warm," 
he  said,  sternly. 

"  I'd — I'd  rather  not,"  said  Lum,  shaking  with  fright 
at  the  idea. 

"  Umph  !  "  said  Mr.  Ball,  looking  hard  at  the  lad,  with 
half  a  mind  to  make  him  go.  Then  he  changed  his  pur- 
pose and  went  to  the  stove  himself,  raked  forward  the 
coals,  and  made  up  the  fire.  Just  as  he  was  shutting  the 
stove-door,  the  explosion  came — the  ashes  flew  out  all 


66  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

over  the  master,  the  stove  was  thrown  down  from  the 
bricks  on  which  its  four  legs  rested,  the  long  pipe  fell  in 
many  pieces  on  the  floor,  and  the  children  set  up  a  gen- 
eral howl  in  all  parts  of  the  room. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Ball  had  shaken  off  the  ashes  from  his 
coat,  he  said  :  "  Be  quiet — there's  no  more  danger.  Co- 
lumbus Risdale,  come  here." 

"  He  did  not  do  it,"  spoke  up  Susan  Lanham. 

"  Be  quiet,  Susan.  You  know  all  about  this,"  con- 
tinued the  master  to  poor  little  Columbus,  who  was  so 
frightened  as  hardly  to  be  able  to  stand.  After  looking 
at  Columbus  a  moment,  the  master  took  down  a  great 
beech  switch.  "  Now,  I  shall  whip  you  until  you  tell  me 
who  did  it.  You  were  afraid  to  go  the  stove.  You 
knew  there  was  powder  there.  Who  put  it  there  ?  That's 
the  question.  Answer,  quick,  or  I  shall  make  you." 

The  little  skin-and-bones  trembled  between  two  ter- 
rors, and  Jack,  seeing  his  perplexity,  got  up  and  stood  by 
him. 

"  He  didn't  do  it,  Mr.  Ball.  I  know  who  did  it.  If 
Columbus  should  tell  you,  he  would  be  beaten  for  telling. 
The  boy  who  did  it  is  just  mean  enough  to  let  Lummy 
get  the  whipping.  Please  let  him  off." 

"  You  know,  do  you  ?  I  shall  whip  you  both.  You 
knew  there  was  gunpowder  in  the  fire,  and  you  gave  no 
warning.  I  shall  whip  you  both — the  severest  whipping 
you  ever  had,  too." 


PIGEON   POT- PIE.  67 


And  the  master  put  up  the  switch  he  had  taken 
down,  as  not  effective  enough,  and  proceeded  to  take 
another. 

"  If  we  had  known  it  was  gunpowder,"  said  Jack,  be- 
ginning to  tremble,  "  you  would  have  been  warned.  But 
we  didn't.  We  only  knew  that  something  had  been  put 
in." 

"If  you'll  tell  all  about  it,  I'll  let  you  off  easier;  if 
you  don't,  I  shall  give  you  all  the  whipping  I  know  how 
to  give."  And  by  way  of  giving  impressiveness  to  his 
threat  he  took  a  turn  about  the  room,  while  there  was  an 
awful  stillness  among  the  terrified  scholars. 

I  do  not  know  what  was  in  Bob  Holliday's  head,  but 
about  this  time  he  managed  to  open  the  western  door 
while  the  master's  back  was  turned.  Bob's  desk  was 
near  the  door. 

Poor  little  Columbus  was  ready  to  die,  and  Jack  was 
afraid  that,  if  the  master  should  beat  him  as  he  threatened 
to  do,  the  child  would  die  outright.  Luckily,  at  the  second 
cruel  blow,  the  master  broke  his  switch  and  turned  to  get 
another.  Seeing  the  door  open,  Jack  whispered  to  Colum- 
bus : 

"  Run  home  as  fast  as  you  can  go." 

The  little  fellow  needed  no  second  bidding.  He  tot- 
tered on  his  trembling  legs  to  the  door,  and  was  out  be- 
fore Mr.  Ball  had  detected  the  motion.  When  the  master 
saw  his  prey  disappearing  out  of  the  door,  he  ran  after 


68  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

him,  but  it  happened  curiously  enough,  in  the  excitement, 
that  Bob  Holliday,  who  sat  behind  the  door,  rose  up,  as 
if  to  look  out,  and  stumbled  against  the  door,  thus  push- 
ing it  shut,  so  that  by  the  time  Mr.  Ball  got  his  stiff  legs 
outside  the  door,  the  frightened  -child  was  under  such 
headway  that,  fearing  to  have  the  whole  school  in  rebel- 
lion, the  teacher  gave  over  the  pursuit,  and  came  back 
prepared  to  wreak  his  vengeance  on  Jack. 

While  Mr.  Ball  was  outside  the  door,  Bob  Holliday 
called  to  Jack,  in  a  loud  whisper,  that  he  had  better  run, 
too,  or  the  old  master  would  "  skin  him  alive."  But  Jack 
had  been  trained  to  submit  to  authority,  and  to  run  away 
now  would  lose  him  his  winter's  schooling,  on  which  he 
had  set  great  store.  He  made  up  his  mind  to  face  the 
punishment  as  best  he  could,  fleeing  only  as  a  last  resort 
if  the  beating  should  be  unendurable. 

"Now,"  said  the  master  to  Jack,  "  will  you  tell  me 
who  put  that  gunpowder  in  the  stove  ?  If  you  don't,  I'll 
take  it  out  of  your  skin." 

Jack  could  not  bear  to  tell,  especially  under  a  threat. 
I  think  that  boys  are  not  wholly  right  in  their  notion  that 
it  is  dishonorable  to  inform  on  a  school-mate,  especially 
in  the  case  of  so  bad  an  offence  as  that  of  which  Will  and 
Ben  were  guilty.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  last  thing 
a  master  ought  to  seek  is  to  turn  boys  into  habitual  spies 
and  informers  on  one  another.  In  the  present  instance, 
Jack  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  told,  for  the  offence  was 


PIGEON   POT-PIE.  69 


criminal ;  but  it  is  hard  for  a  high-spirited  lad  to  yield  to 
a  brutal  threat. 

Jack  caught  sight  of  Susan  Lanham  telegraphing  from 
behind  the  master,  by  spelling  with  her  fingers  : 

"  Tell  or  run." 

But  he  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  do  either, 
though  Bob  Holliday  had  again  mysteriously  opened  the 
western  door. 

The  master  summoned  all  his  strength  and  struck  him 
half  a  dozen  blows,  that  made  poor  Jack  writhe.  Then  he 
walked  up  and  down  the  room  awhile,  to  give  the  victim 
time  to  consider  whether  he  would  tell  or  not 

"  Run,"  spelled  out  Susan  on  her  fingers. 

"  The  school-house  is  on  fire  !  "  called  out  Bob  Holli- 
day. Some  of  the  coals  that  had  spilled  from  the  cap- 
sized stove  were  burning  the  floor — not  dangerously,  but 
Bob  wished  to  make  a  diversion.  He  rushed  for  a  pail 
of  water  in  the  corner,  and  all  the  rest,  aching  with  sup- 
pressed excitement,  crowded  around  the  fallen  stove,  so 
that  it  was  hard  for  the  master  to  tell  whether  there  was 
any  fire  or  not.  Bob  whispered  to  Jack  to  "  cut  sticks," 
but  Jack  only  went  to  his  seat. 

"  Lay  hold,  boys,  and  let's  put  up  the  stove,"  said  Bob, 
taking  the  matter  quite  out  of  the  master's  hands.  Of 
course,  the  stove-pipe  would  not  fit  without  a  great  deal 
of  trouble.  Did  ever  stove-pipe  go  together  without 
trouble?  Somehow,  all  the  joints  that  Bob  joined  to- 


70  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

gether  flew  asunder  over  and  over  again,  though  he 
seemed  to  work  most  zealously  to  get  the  stove  set  up. 
After  half  an  hour  of  this  confusion,  the  pipe  was  fixed, 
and  the  master,  having  had  time,  like  the  stove,  to  cool 
off,  and  seeing  Jack  bent  over  his  book,  concluded  to  let 
the  matter  drop.  But  there  are  some  matters  that,  once 
taken  up,  are  hard  to  drop. 


CHAPTER  X. 

JACK  AND   HIS   MOTHER. 

JACK  went  home  that  night  very  sore  on  his  back  and 
in  his  feelings.  He  felt  humiliated  to  be  beaten  like  a 
dog,  and  even  a  dog  feels  degraded  in  being  beaten.  He 
told  his  mother  about  it — the  tall,  dignified,  sweet-faced 
mother,  patient  in  trouble  and  full  of  a  goodness  that  did 
not  talk  much  about  goodness.  She  always  took  it  for 
granted  that  her  boy  would  not  do  anything  mean,  and 
thus  made  a  healthy  atmosphere  for  a  brave  boy  to  grow 
in.  Jack  told  her  of  his  whipping,  with  some  heat,  while 
he  sat  at  supper.  She  did  not  say  much  then,  but  after 
Jack's  evening  chores  were  all  finished,  she  sat  down  by 
the  candle  where  he  was  trying  to  get  out  some  sums, 
and  questioned  him  carefully. 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  who  did  it  ?"  she  asked. 

"  Because  it  makes  a  boy  mean  to  tell,  and  all  the  boys 
would  have  thought  me  a  sneak." 

"  It  is  a  little  hard  to  face  a  general  opinion  like  that," 
she  said. 

"  But,"  said  Jack,  "if  I.  had  told,  the  master  would 


72  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

have  whipped  Columbus  all  the  same,  and  the  boys 
would  probably  have  pounded  him  too.  I  ought  to  have 
told  beforehand,"  said  Jack,  after  a  pause.  "  But  I 
thought  it  was  only  some  coffee-nuts  that  they  had  put 
in.  The  mean  fellows,  to  let  Columbus  take  a  whipping 
for  them  !  But  the  way  Mr.  Ball  beats  us  is  enough  to 
make  a  boy  mean  and  cowardly." 

After  a  long  silence,  the  mother  said:  "I  think  we 
shall  have  to  give  it  up,  Jack." 

"  What,  mother?  " 

"  The  schooling  for  this  winter.  I  don't  want  you 
to  go  where  boys  are  beaten  in  that  way.  In  the  morn- 
ing, go  and  get  your  books  and  see  what  you  can  do  at 
home." 

Then,  after  a  long  pause,  in  which  neither  liked  to 
speak,  Mrs.  Dudley  said  : 

"  I  want  you  to  be  an  educated  man.  You  learn 
quickly  ;  you  have  a  taste  for  books,  and  you  will  be 
happier  if  you  get  knowledge.  If  I  could  collect  the 
money  that  Gray  owes  your  father's  estate,  or  even  a 
part  of  it,  I  should  be  able  to  keep  you  in  school  one 
winter  after  this.  But  there  seems  to  be  no  hope  for 
that." 

"  But  Gray  is  a  rich  man,  isn't  he  ?  " 

"  Yes,  he  has  a  good  deal  of  property,  but  not  in 
his  own  name.  He  persuaded  your  father,  who  was  a 
kind-hearted  and  easy-natured  man,  to  release  a  mort- 


JACK   AND   HIS   MOTHER.  73 

gage,  promising  to  give  him  some  other  security  the 
next  week.  But,  meantime,  he  put  his  property  in  such 
a  shape  as  to  cheat  all  his  creditors.  "  I  don't  think  we 
shall  ever  get  anything." 

"  I  am  going  to  be  an  educated  man,  anyhow." 

"  But  you  will  have  to  go  to  work  at  something  next 
fall,"  said  the  mother. 

"  That  will  make  it  harder,  but  I  mean  to  study  a 
little  every  day.  I  wish  I  could  get  a  chance  to  spend 
next  winter  in  school." 

"  We'll  see  what  can  be  done." 

And  long  after  Jack  went  to  bed  that  night  the 
mother  sat  still  by  the  candle  with  her  sewing,  trying  to 
think  what  she  could  do  to  help  her  boy  to  get  on  with 
his  studies. 

Jack  woke  up  after  eleven  o'clock,  and  saw  her  light 
still  burning  in  the  sitting-room. 

"  I  say,  mother,"  he  called  out,  "don't  you  sit  there 
worrying  about  me.  We  shall  come  through  this  all 
right." 

Some  of  Jack's  hopefulness  got  into  the  mother's 
heart,  and  she  took  her  light  and  went  to  bed. 

Weary,  and  sore,  and  disappointed,  Jack  did  not 
easily  get  to  sleep  himself  after  his  cheerful  speech  to 
his  mother.  He  lay  awake  long,  making  boy's  plans 
for  his  future.  He  would  go  and  collect  money  by  some 
hook  or  crook  from  the  rascally  Gray  ;  he  would  make 
4 


74  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

a  great  invention  ;  he  would  discover  a  gold  mine;  he 
would  find  some  rich  cousin  who  would  send  him  through 

college  ;    he    would ,   but   just   then    he    grew  more 

wakeful  and  realized  that  all  his  plans  had  no  foundation 
of  probability. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

COLUMBUS  AND  HIS  FRIENDS. 

WHEN  he  waked  up  in  the  morning,  Jack  remembered 
that  he  had  not  seen  Columbus  Risdale  go  past  the  door 
after  his  cow  the  evening  before,  and  he  was  afraid  that 
he  might  be  ill.  Why  had  he  not  thought  to  go  down 
and  drive  up  the  cow  himself?  It  was  yet  early,  and  he 
arose  and  went  down  to  the  little  rusty,  brown,  un- 
painted  house  in  which  the  Risdales,  who  were  poor 
people,  had  their  home.  Just  as  he  pushed  open  the 
gate,  Bob  Holliday  came  out  of  the  door,  looking  tired 
and  sleepy. 

"  Hello,  Bob  !"  said  Jack.  "  How's  Columbus  ?  Is 
he  sick  ?  " 

"  Awful  sick,"  said  Bob.  "  Clean  out  of  his  head  all 
night." 

"  Have  you  been  here  all  night  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  heerd  he  was  sick  last  night,  and  I  come 
over  and  sot  up  with  him." 

"  You  good,  big-hearted  Bob  !  "  said  Jack.  "You're 
the  best  fellow  in  the  world,  I  believe." 

"  What  a  quare  feller   you   air  to  talk,  Jack,"    said 


THE   HOOS1ER   SCHOOL-BOY. 


Bob,  choking  up.  "  Air  you  goin'  to  school  to- 
day ?  " 

"  No.     Mother  'd  rather  have  me  not  go  any  more." 

"I'm  not  going  any  more.  I  hate  old  Ball. 
Neither's  Susan  Lanham  going.  She's  in  there,"  and 
Bob  made  a  motion  toward  the  house  with  his  thumb, 
and  passed  out  of  the  gate,  while  Jack  knocked  at  the 
door.  He  was  admitted  by  Susan. 

"  Oh,  Jack  !  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you,"  she  whispered. 
"  Columbus  has  asked  for  you  a  good  many  times  during 
the  night.  You've  stood  by  him  splendidly." 

Jack  blushed,  but  asked  how  Lummy  was  now. 

"  Out  of  his  head  most  of  the  time.  Bob  Holliday 
staid  with  him  all  night.  What  a  good  fellow  Bob  Hol- 
liday is  !  " 

"I  almost  hugged  him,  just  now,"  said  Jack,  and 
Susan  couldn't  help  smiling  at  this  frank  confession. 

Jack  passed  into  the  next  room  as  stealthily  as  possi- 
ble, that  he  might  not  disturb  his  friend,  and  paused  by 
the  door.  Mrs.  Risdale  sat  by  the  bedside  of  Columbus, 
who  was  sleeping  uneasily,  his  curious  big  head  and  long- 
thin  hair  making  a  strange  picture  against  the  pillow. 
His  face  looked  more  meagre  and  his  eyes  more  sunken 
than  ever  before,  but  there  was  a  feverish  flush  on  his 
wan  cheeks,  and  the  slender  hands  moved  uneasily  on  the 
outside  of  the  blue  coverlet,  the  puny  arms  were  bare  to 
the  elbows. 


COLUMBUS   AND   HIS   FRIENDS.  77 

Mrs.  Risdale  beckoned  Jack  to  come  forward,  and  he 
came  and  stood  at  the  bed-foot.  Then  Columbus 
opened  his  large  eyes  and  fixed  them  on  Jack  for  a 
few  seconds. 

"  Come,  Jack,  dear  old  fellow,"  he  whispered. 

Jack  came  and  bent  over  him  with  tearful  eyes,  and 
the  poor  little  reed-like  arms  were  twined  about  his  neck. 

"  Jack,"  he  sobbed,  "  the  master's  right  over  there  in 
the  corner  all  the  time,  straightening  out  his  long 
switches.  He  says  he's  going  to  whip  me  again.  But 
you  won't  let  him,  will  you,  Jack,  you  good  old  fellow?  " 

"  No,  he  sha'n't  touch  you." 

"  Let's  run  away,  Jack,"  he  said,  presently.  And 
so  the  poor  little  fellow  went  on,  his  great  disordered 
brain  producing  feverish  images  of  terror  from  which  he 
continually  besought  "  dear  good  old  Jack"  to  deliver 
him. 

When  at  last  he  dropped  again  into  a  troubled  sleep, 
Jack  slipped  away  and  drove  up  the  Risdale  cow,  and 
then  went  back  to  his  breakfast.  He  was  a  boy  whose 
anger  kindled  slowly  ;  but  the  more  he  thought  about  it, 
the  more  angry  he  became  at  the  master  who  had  given 
Columbus  such  a  fright  as  to  throw  him  into  a  brain 
fever,  and  at  the  "  mean,  sneaking,  contemptible  vil- 
lains," as  he  hotly  called  them,  who  wouldn't  come 
forward  and  confess  their  trick,  rather  than  to  have  the 
poor  little  lad  punished. 


78  THE    HOOSIER    SCHOOL-BOY. 

"  I  suppose  we  ought  to  make  some  allowances,"  his 
mother  said,  quietly. 

"  That's  what  you  always  say,  mother.  You're 
always  making  allowances." 

After  breakfast  and  chores,  Jack  thought  to  go  again 
to  see  his  little  friend.  On  issuing  from  the  gate,  he 
saw  Will  Riley  and  Ben  Berry  waiting  for  him  at  the 
corner.  Whether  they  meant  to  attack  him  or  not  he 
could  not  tell,  but  he  felt  too  angry  to  care. 

"  I  say,  Jack,"  said  Riley,  "how  did  you  know  who 
put  the  powder  in  the  stove  ?  Did  Columbus  tell  you  ?  " 

"  Mind  your  own  business,"  said  Jack,  in  a  tone  not 
so  polite  as  it  might  be.  "  The  less  you  say  about  gun- 
powder, hereafter,  the  better  for  you  both.  Why  didn't 
you  walk  up  and  tell,  and  save  that  little  fellow  a 
beating  ?  " 

"  Look  here,  Jack,"  said  Berry,  "  don't  you  tell  what 
you  know  about  it.  There's  going  to  be  a  row.  They 
say  that  Doctor  Lanham's  taken  Susan,  and  all  the  other 
children,  out  of  school,  because  the  master  thrashed 
Lummy,  and  they  say  Bob  Holliday's  quit,  and  that 
you're  going  to  quit,  and  Doctor  Lanham's  gone  to 
work  this  morning  to  get  the  master  put  out  at  the  end 
of  the  term.  Mr.  Ball  didn't  know  that  Columbus  was 
kin  to  the  Lanhams,  or  he'd  have  let  him  alone,  like  he 
does  the  Lanhams  and  the  Weathervanes.  There  is 
going  to  be  a  big  row,  and  everybody'll  want  to  know 


COLUMBUS   AND    HIS   FRIENDS.  79 

who  put  the  powder  in  the  stove.  We  want  you  to  be 
quiet  about  it." 

"  You  do  ?  "  said  Jack,  with  a  sneer.      "  You  do  ?  " 

"Yes,  we  do,"  said  Riley,  coaxingly. 

"  You  do  ?  You  come  to  me  and  ask  me  to  keep  it 
secret,  after  letting  me  and  that  poor  little  baby  take 
your  whipping  !  You  want  me  to  hide  what  you  did, 
when  that  poor  little  Columbus  lies  over  there  sick  abed 
and  like  to  die,  all  because  you  sneaking  scoundrels  let 
him  be  whipped  for  what  you  did  !  " 

"  Is  he  sick  ?  "  said  Riley,  in  terror. 

"  Going  to  die,  I  expect,"  said  Jack,  bitterly. 

"  Well,"  said  Ben  Berry,  "  you  be  careful  what  you 
say  about  us,  or  we'll  get  Pewee  to  get  even  with  you." 

"  Oh,  that's  your  game  !  You  think  you  can  scare 
me,  do  you  ?  " 

Jack  grew  more  and  more  angry.  Seeing  a  group 
of  school-boys  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  he  called 
them  over. 

"  Look  here,  boys,"  said  Jack,  "  I  took  a  whipping 
yesterday  to  keep  from  telling  on  these  fellows,  and  now 
they  have  the  face  to  ask  me  not  to  tell  that  they  put 
the  powder  in  the  stove,  and  they  promise  me  a  beating 
from  Pewee  if  I  do.  These  are  the  two  boys  that  let 
a  poor  sickly  baby  take  the  whipping  they  ought  to  have 
had.  They  have  just  as  good  as  killed  him,  I  suppose, 
and  now  they  come  sneaking  around  here  and  trying  to 


80  THE  HOOSIER  SCHOOL-BOY. 

scare  me  in  keeping  still  about  it.  I  didn't  back  down 
from  the  master,  and  I  wont  from  Pevvee.  Oh,  no  !  I 
wont  tell  anybody.  But  if  any  of  you  boys  should 
happen  to  guess  that  Will  Riley  and  Ben  Berry  were  the 
cowards  who  did  that  mean  trick,  I  am  not  going  to  say 
they  weren't.  It  wouldn't  be  of  any  use  to  deny  it. 
There  are  only  two  boys  in  school  mean  enough  to  play 
such  a  contemptible  trick  as  that." 

Riley  and  Berry  stood  sheepishly  silent,  but  just  here 
Pewee  came  in  sight,  and  seeing  the  squad  of  boys 
gathered  around  Jack,  strode  over  quickly  and  pushed 
his  sturdy  form  into  the  midst. 

"  Pewee,"  said  Riley,  "  I  think  you  ought  to  pound 
Jack.  He  says  you  can't  back  him  down." 

"  I  didn't,"  said  Jack.  "  I  said  you  couldn't  scare 
me  out  of  telling  who  tried  to  blow  up  the  school-house 
stove,  and  let  other  boys  take  the  whipping,  by  promis- 
ing me  a  drubbing  from  Pewee  Rose.  If  Pewee  wants 
to  put  himself  in  as  mean  a  crowd  as  yours,  and  be  your 
puppy-dog  to  fight  for  you,  let  him  come  on.  He's  a 
fool  if  he  does,  that's  all  I  have  to  say.  The  whole  town 
will  want  to  ship  you  two  fellows  off  before  night,  and 
Pewee  isn't  going  to  fight  your  battles.  What  do  you 
think,  Pewee,  of  fellows  that  put  powder  in  a  stove 
where  they  might  blow  up  a  lot  of  little  children  ?  What 
do  you  think  of  two  fellows  that  want  me  to  keep  quiet 
after  they  let  little  Lum  Risdale  take  a  whipping  for 


COLUMBUS   AND   HIS   FRIENDS.  8l 


them,  and  that  talk  about  setting  you  on  to  me  if  I 
tell  ?  " 

Thus  brought  face  to  face  with  both  parties,  King 
Pewee  only  looked  foolish  and  said  nothing. 

Jack  had  worked  himself  into  such  a  passion  that  he 
could  not  go  to  Risdale's,  but  returned  to  his  own  home, 
declaring  that  he  was  going  to  tell  everybody  in  town. 
But  when  he  entered  the  house  and  looked  into  the 
quiet,  self-controlled  face  of  his  mother,  he  began  to  feel 
cooler. 

"  Let  us  remember  that  some  allowances  are  to  be 
made  for  such  boys,"  was  all  that  she  said. 

"That's  what  you  always  say,  Mother,"  said  Jack, 
impatiently.  "  I  believe  you'd  make  allowances  for  the 
Old  Boy  himself." 

"That  would  depend  on  his  bringing  up,"  smiled 
Mrs.  Dudley.  "  Some  people  have  bad  streaks  nat- 
urally, and  some  have  been  cowed  and  brutalized  by  ill- 
treatment,  and  some  have  been  spoiled  by  indulgence." 

Jack  felt  more  calm  after  a  while.  He  went  back  to 
the  bedside  of  Columbus,  but  he  couldn't  bring  himself 
to  make  allowances. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

GREENBANK     WAKES     UP. 

IF  the  pigeons  had  not  crossed  the  valley  on  Monday, 
nobody  would  have  played  truant,  and  if  nobody  had 
played  truant  on  Monday,  there  would  not  have  been 
occasion  to  whip  three  boys  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  if 
Ben  Berry  and  Riley  had  escaped  a  beating  on  Tuesday 
morning,  they  would  not  have  thought  of  putting  gun- 
powder into  the  stove  on  Wednesday  at  noon,  and  if 
they  had  omitted  that  bad  joke,  Columbus  would  not 
have  got  into  trouble  and  run  away  from  school,  and  if  he 
had  escaped  the  fright  and  the  flight,  he  might  not  have 
had  the  fever,  and  the  town  would  not  have  been  waked 
up,  and  other  things  would  not  have  happened. 

So  then,  you  see,  this  world  of  ours  is  just  like  the 
House  that  Jack  Built  :  one  thing  is  tied  to  another  and 
another  to  that,  and  that  to  this,  and  this  to  something, 
and  something  to  something  else,  and  so  on  to  the  very 
end  of  all  things. 

So  it  was  that  the  village  was  thrown  into  a  great 
excitement  as  the  result  of  a  flock  of  innocent  pigeons 


GREENBANK   WAKES    UP.  83 


going  over  the  heads  of  some  lazy  boys.  In  the  first 
place,  Susan  Lanham  talked  about  things.  She  talked  to 
her  aunts,  and  she  talked  to  her  uncles,  and,  above  all, 
she  talked  to  her  father.  Now  Susan  was  the  brightest 
girl  in  the  town,  and  she  had  a  tongue,  as  all  the  world 
knew,  and  when  she  set  out  to  tell  people  what  a  brute 
the  old  master  was,  how  he  had  beaten  two  innocent 
boys,  how  bravely  Jack  had  carried  himself,  how  fright- 
ened little  Columbus  was,  and  how  sick  it  had  made  him, 
and  how  mean  the  boys  were  to  put  the  powder  there, 
and  then  to  let  the  others  take  the  whipping, — I  say,  when 
Susan  set  out  to  tell  all  these  things,  in  her  eloquent  way, 
to  everybody  she  knew,  you  might  expect  a  waking  up  in 
the  sleepy  old  town.  Some  of  the  people  took  Susan's 
side  and  removed  their  children  from  the  school,  lest  they, 
too,  should  get  a  whipping  and  run  home  and  have  brain 
fever.  But  many  stood  up  for  the  old  master,  mostly 
because  they  were  people  of  the  sort  that  never  can  bear 
to  see  anything  changed.  "  The  boys  ought  to  have  told 
who  put  the  powder  in  the  stove,"  they  said.  "  It  served 
them  right." 

"  How  could  the  master  know  that  Jack  and  Colum- 
bus did  not  do  it  themselves  ?  "  said  others.  "  May  be 
they  did  !  " 

"  Don't  tell  me  !  "  cried  old  Mrs.  Home.  "  Don't 
tell  me  !  Boys  can't  be  managed  without  whipping,  and 
plenty  of  it.  '  Bring  up  a  child  and  away  he  goes,'  as  the 


84  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

Bible  says.  When  you  hire  a  master,  you  want  a 
master,  says  I." 

"  What  a  tongue  that  Sue  Lanham  has  got  !  "  said 
Mr.  Higbie,  Mr.  Ball's  brother-in-law. 

TKe  excitement  spread  over  the  whole  village. 
Doctor  Lanham  talked  about  it,  and  the  ministers,  and 
the  lawyers,  and  the  loafers  in  the  stores,  and  the  people 
who  came  to  the  post-office  for  their  letters.  Of  course, 
it  broke  out  furiously  in  the  "  Maternal  Association,"  a 
meeting  of  mothers  held  at  the  house  of  one  of  the 
ministers. 

"  Mr.  Ball  can  do  every  sum  in  the  arithmetic,"  urged 
Mrs.  Weathervane. 

"  He's  a  master  hand  at  figures,  they  do  say,"  said 
Mother  Brownson. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Dudley,  "  I  don't  doubt  it.  Jack's 
back  is  covered  with  figures  of  Mr.  Ball's  making.  For 
my  part,  I  should  rather  have  a  master  that  did  his  figur- 
ing on  a  slate." 

Susan  Lanham  got  hold  of  this  retort,  and  took  pains 
that  it  should  be  known  all  over  the  village. 

When  Greenbank  once  gets  waked  up  on  any  ques- 
tion, it  never  goes  to  sleep  until  that  particular  question 
is  settled.  But  it  doesn't  wake  up  more  than  once  or 
twice  in  twenty  years.  Most  of  the  time  it  is  only  talking 
in  its  sleep.  Now  that  Greenbank  had  its  eyes  open  for 
a  little  time,  it  was  surprised  to  see  that  while  the  cities 


GREENBANK   WAKES    UP.  85 

along  the  river  had  all  adopted  graded  schools, — de- 
graded  schools,  as  they  were  called  by  the  people  op- 
posed to  them, — and  while  even  the  little  villages  in  the 
hill  country  had  younger  and  more  enlightened  teachers, 
the  county-town  of  Greenbank  had  made  no  advance. 
It  employed  yet,  under  the  rule  of  President  Fillmore,  the 
same  hard  old  stick  of  a  master  that  had  beaten  the  boys 
in  the  log  school-house  in  the  days  of  John  Quincy 
Adams  and  Andrew  Jackson.  But,  now  it  was  awake, 
Greenbank  kept  its  eyes  open  on  the  school  question. 
The  boys  wrote  on  the  fences,  in  chalk  : 

DOWN  WITH  OLD  BAWL! 

and  thought  the  bad  spelling  of  the  name  a  good  joke, 
while  men  and  women  began  to  talk  about  getting  a  new 
master. 

Will  Riley  and  Ben  Berry  had  the  hardest  time.  For 
the  most  part  they  stayed  at  home  during  the  excite- 
ment, only  slinking  out  in  the  evening.  The  boys  nick- 
named them  "  Gunpowder  cowards,"  and  wrote  the 
words  on  the  fences.  Even  the  loafers  about  the  street 
asked  them  whether  Old  Ball  had  given  them  that  whip- 
ping yet,  and  how  they  liked  "  powder  and  Ball." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

PROFESSOR     SUSAN. 

MR.  BALL  did  not  let  go  easily.  He  had  been  en- 
gaged for  the  term,  and  he  declared  that  he  would  go  on 
to  the  end  of  the  term,  if  there  should  be  nothing  but 
empty  benches.  In  truth,  he  and  his  partisans  hoped 
that  the  storm  would  blow  over  and  the  old  man  be  al- 
lowed to  go  on  teaching  and  thrashing  as  heretofore. 
He  had  a  great  advantage  in  that  he  had  been  trained  in 
all  the  common  branches  better  than  most  masters,  and 
was  regarded  as  a  miracle  of  skill  in  arithmetical  calcula- 
tions. He  even  knew  how  to  survey  land. 

Jack  was  much  disappointed  to  miss  his  winter's 
schooling,  and  there  was  no  probability  that  he  would 
be  able  to  attend  school  again.  He  went  on  as  best  he 
could  at  home,  but  he  stuck  fast  on  some  difficult  prob- 
lems in  the  middle  of  the  arithmetic.  Columbus  had  by 
this  time  begun  to  recover  his  slender  health,  and  he  was 
even  able  to  walk  over  to  Jack's  house  occasionally. 
Finding  Jack  in  despair  over  some  of  his  "  sums,"  he 
said  : 

"  Why  don't  you  ask  Susan  Lanham  to  show  you  ? 


PROFESSOR    SUSAN.  8/ 


I  believe  she  would  ;  and  she  has  been  clean  through  the 
arithmetic,  and  she  is  'most  as  good  as  the  master  himself." 

"  I  don't  like  to,"  said  Jack.  "  She  wouldn't  want  to 
take  the  trouble." 

But  the  next  morning  Christopher  Columbus  man- 
aged to  creep  over  to  the  Lanhams  : 

"  Cousin  Sukey,"  he  said,  coaxingly,  "  I  wish  you'd 
do  something  for  me.  I  want  to  ask  a  favor  of  you." 

"What  is  it,  Columbus?"  said  Sue.  "Anything 
you  ask  shall  be  given,  to  the  half  of  my  kingdom  !  "  and 
she  struck  an  attitude,  as  Isabella  of  Castile,  addressing 
the  great  Columbus,  with  the  dust-brush  for  a  sceptre, 
and  the  towel,  which  she  had  pinned  about  her  head,  for 
a  crown. 

"  You  are  so  funny,"  he  said,  with  a  faint  smile. 
"  But  I  wish  you'd  be  sober  a  minute." 

"  Haven't  had  but  one  cup  of  coffee  this  morning. 
But  what  do  you  want?  " 

"  Jack " 

"  Oh,  yes.  it's  always  Jack  with  you.  '  But  that's 
right — Jack  deserves  it." 

"  Jack  can't  do  his  sums,  and  he  won't  ask  you  to 
help  him." 

"  And  so  he  got  you  to  ask  ?  " 

"  No,  he  didn't.  He  wouldn't  let  me,  if  he  knew. 
He  thinks  a  young  lady  like  you  wouldn't  want  to  take 
the  trouble  to  help  him." 


88  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

"  Do  you  tell  that  stupid  Jack,  that  if  he  doesn't  want 
to  offend  me  so  that  I'll  never,  never  forgive  him,  he  is  to 
bring  his  slate  and  pencil  over  here  after  supper  this 
evening.  And  yeu'll  come,  too,  with  your  geography. 
Yours  truly,  Susan  Lanham,  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Science  in  the  Greenbank  Independent  and 
Miscellaneous  Academy.  Do  you  hear  ?  " 

"All  right."  And  Columbus,  smiling  faintly,  went 
off  to  tell  Jack  the  good  news.  That  evening  Susan  had, 
besides  her  own  brother  and  two  sisters,  two  pupils  who 
learned  more  arithmetic  than  they  would  have  gotten  in 
the  same  time  from  Mr.  Ball,  though  she  did  keep  them 
laughing  at  her  drollery.  The  next  evening,  little  Jo- 
anna Merwin  joined  the  party,  and  Professor  Susan  felt 
quite  proud  of  her  "  academy,"  as  she  called  it. 

Bob  Holliday  caught  the  infection,  and  went  to  study- 
ing at  home.  As  he  was  not  so  far  advanced  as  Jack,  he 
contented  himself  with  asking  Jack's  help  when  he  was  in 
trouble.  At  length,  he  had  a  difficulty  that  Jack  could 
not  solve. 

"  Why  don't  you  take  that  to  the  professor  ?  "  asked 
Jack.  "  I'll  ask  her  to  show  you." 

"  I  dursn't,"  said  Bob,  with  a  frightened  look. 

"  Nonsense!  "  said  Jack. 

That  evening,  when  the  lessons  were  ended,  Jack 
said  : 

"  Professor  Susan,  there  was  a  story  in  the  old  First 


PROFESSOR   SUSAN. 


Reader  we  had  in  the  first  school  that  I  went  to,  about  a 
dog  who  had  a  lame  foot.  A  doctor  cured  his  foot,  and 
some  time  after,  the  patient  brought  another  lame  dog  to 
the  doctor,  and  showed  by  signs  that  he  wanted  this 
other  dog  cured,  too." 

"  That's  rather  a  good  dog-story,"  said  Susan. 
"  But  what  made  you  think  of  it  ?  " 

"  Because  I'm  that  first  dog." 

"  You  are  ?  " 

"  Yes.  You've  helped  me,  but  there's  Bob  Holliday. 
I've  been  helping  him,  but  he's  got  to  a  place  where  I 
don't  quite  understand  the  thing  myself.  Now  Bob 
wouldn't  dare  ask  you  to  help  him " 

"  Bring  him  along.  How  the  Greenbank  Academy 
grows  !  "  laughed  Susan,  turning  to  her  father. 

Bob  was  afraid  of  Susan  at  first — his  large  fingers 
trembled  so  much  that  he  had  trouble  to  use  his  slate- 
pencil.  But  by  the  third  evening  his  shyness  had  worn 
off,  so  that  he  got  on  well. 

One  evening,  after  a  week  of  attendance,  he  was 
missing.  The  next  morning  he  came  to  Jack's  house 
with  his  face  scratched  and  his  eye  bruised. 

"  What's  the  matter  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"Well,  you  see,  yesterday  I  was  at  the  school-house 
at  noon,  and  Pewee,  egged  on  by  Riley,  said  something 
he  oughtn't  to,  about  Susan,  and  I  couldn't  stand  there 
and  hear  that  girl  made  fun  of,  and  so  I  up  and  downed 


THE   IIOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 


him,  and  made  him  take  it  back.  I  can't  go  till  my  face 
looks  better,  you  know,  for  I  wouldn't  want  her  to  know 
anything  about  it." 

But  the  professor  heard  all  about  it  from  Joanna,  who 
had  it  from  one  of  the  school-boys.  Susan  sent  Colum- 
bus to  tell  Bob  that  she  knew  all  about  it,  and  that  he 
must  come  back  to  school. 

"  So  you've  been  fighting,  have  you  ?  "  she  said, 
severely,  when  Bob  appeared.  The  poor  fellow  was 
glad  she  took  that  tone  —  if  she  had  thanked  him  he 
wouldn't  have  been  able  to  reply. 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  don't  you  do  it  any  more.  It's  very  wrong 
to  fight.  It  makes  boys  brutal.  A  girl  with  ability 
enough  to  teach  the  Greenbank  Academy  can  take  care 
of  herself,  and  she  doesn't  want  her  scholars  to  fight. 

"All  right,"  said  Bob.  "But,"  he  muttered,  "I'll 
thrash  him  all  the  same,  and  more  than  ever,  if  he  ever 
says  anything  like  that  again." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CROWING   AFTER   VICTORY. 

GREENBANK  was  awake,  and  the  old  master  had  to 
go.  Mr.  Weathervane  stood  up  for  him  as  long  as  he 
thought  that  the  excitement  was  temporary.  But  when 
he  found  that  Greenbank  really  was  awake,  and  not  just 
talking  in  its  sleep,  as  it  did  for  the  most  part,  he  changed 
sides, — not  all  at  once,  but  by  degrees.  At  first  he  soft- 
ened down  a  little,  "  hemmed  and  hawed,"  as  folks  say. 
He  said  he  did  not  know  but  that  Mr.  Ball  had  been 
hasty,  but  he  meant  well.  The  next  day  he  took  another 
step,  and  said  that  the  old  master  meant  well,  but  he  was 
often  too  hasty  in  his  temper.  The  next  week  he  let  him- 
self down  another  peg  in  saying  that  "maybe"  the 
old  man  meant  well,  but  he  was  altogether  too  hot  in  his 
temper  for  a  school-master.  A  little  while  later,  he 
found  out  that  Mr.  Ball's  way  of  teaching  was  quite  out 
of  date.  Before  a  month  had  elapsed,  he  was  sure  that 
the  old  curmudgeon  ought  to  be  put  out,  and  thus  at  last 
Mr.  Weathervane  found  himself  where  he  liked  to  be,  in 
the  popular  party. 

And  so  the  old    master  came  to. his  last  day  in  the 


92  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

brick  school- house.  Whatever  feelings  he  may  have  had 
in  leaving  behind  him  the  scenes  of  his  twenty-five  years 
of  labor,  he  said  nothing.  He  only  compressed  his  lips 
a  little  more  tightly,  scowled  as  severely  as  ever,  re- 
moved his  books  and  pens  from  his  desk,  gave  a  last 
look  at  his  long  beech  switches  on  the  wall,  turned  the 
key  in  the  door  of  the  school-house,  carried  it  to  Mr. 
Weathervane,  received  his  pay,  and  walked  slowly  home 
to  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Higbie. 

The  boys  had  resolved  to  have  a  demonstration.  All 
their  pent-up  wrath  against  the  master  now  found  vent, 
since  there  was  no  longer  any  danger  that  the  old  man 
would  have  a  chance  to  retaliate.  They  would  serenade 
him.  Bob  Holliday  was  full  of  it.  Harry  Weathervane 
was  very  active.  He  was  going  to  pound  on  his 
mother's  bread-pan.  Every  sort  of  instrument  for  mak- 
ing a  noise  was  brought  into  requisition.  Dinner-bells, 
tin-pails,  conch-shell  dinner-horns,  tin-horns,  and  even 
the  village  bass-drum,  were  to  be  used. 

Would  Jack  go  ?  Bob  came  over  to  inquire.  All  the 
boys  were  going  to  celebrate  the  downfall  of  a  harsh 
master.  He  deserved  it  for  beating  Columbus.  So  Jack 
resolved  to  go. 

But  after  the  boys  had  departed,  Jack  began  to  doubt 
whether  he  ought  to  go  or  not.  It  did  not  seem  quite 
right  ;  yet  his  feelings  had  become  so  enlisted  in  the  con- 
flict for  the  old  man's  removal,  that  he  had  grown  to  be 


CROWING   AFTER   VICTORY.  93 

a  bitter  partisan,  and  the  recollection  of  all  he  had  suf- 
fered, and  of  all  Columbus  had  endured  during  his  sick- 
ness, reconciled  Jack  to  the  appearance  of  crowing  over 
a  fallen  foe,  which  this  burlesque  serenade  would  have. 
Nevertheless,  his  conscience  was  not  clear  on  the  point, 
and  he  concluded  to  submit  the  matter  to  his  mother, 
when  she  should  come  home  to  supper. 

Unfortunately  for  Jack,  his  mother  stayed  away  to 
tea,  sending  Jack  word  that  he  would  have  to  get  his  own 
supper,  and  that  she  would  come  home  early  in  the  even- 
ing. Jack  ate  his  bowl  of  bread  and  milk  in  solitude, 
trying  to  make  himself  believe  that  his  mother  would 
approve  of  his  taking  part  in  the  "  shiveree  "  of  the  old 
master.  But  when  he  had  finished  his  supper,  he  con- 
cluded that  if  his  mother  did-  not  come  home  in  time  for 
him  to  consult  her,  he  would  remain  at  home.  He  drew 
up  by  the  light  and  tried  to  study,  but  he  longed  to  be 
out  with  the  boys.  After  a  while,  Bob  Holliday  and 
Harry  Weathervane  came  .to  the  door  and  importuned 
Jack  to  come  with  them.  It  was  lonesome  at  home  :  it 
would  be  good  fun  to  celebrate  the  downfall  of  the  old 
master's  cruel  rule,  so,  taking  down  an  old  dinner-bell, 
Jack  went  off  to  join  the  rest.  He  was  a  little  disgusted 
when  he  found  Riley,  Pewee,  and  Ben  Berry  in  the  com- 
pany, but  once  in  the  crowd,  there  was  little  chance  to 
back  out  with  credit.  The  boys  crept  through  the  back 
alleys  until  they  came  in  front  of  Mr.  Higbie's  house,  at 


94  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

half-past  eight  o'clock.  There  was  but  one  light  visible, 
and  that  was  in  Mr.  Ball's  room.  Jack  dropped  behind, 
a  little  faint  of  heart  about  the  expedition.  He  felt  sure 
in  himself  that  his  mother  would  shake  her  head  if  she 
knew  of  it.  At  length,  at  a  signal  from  Bob,  the  tin-pans, 
big  and  little,  the  skillet-lids  grinding  together,  the  horns, 
both  conch-shell  and  tin,  and  the  big  bass-drum,  set  up 
a  hideous  clattering,  banging,  booming,  roaring,  and 
racketing.  Jack  rang  his  dinner-bell  rather  faintly,  and 
stood  back  behind  all  the  rest. 

"  Jack's  afraid,"  said  Pewee.  "  Why  don't  you  come 
up  to  the  front,  like  a  man  ?  " 

Jack  could  not  stand  a  taunt  like  this,  but  came  for- 
ward into  the  cluster  of  half-frightened  peace-breakers. 
Just  then,  the  door  of  Mr.  Higbie's  house  was  opened, 
and  some  one  came  out. 

"  It's  Mr.  Higbie,"  said  Ben  Berry.  "  He's  going  to 
shoot." 

"  It's  Bugbee,  the  watchman,  going  to  arrest  us,"  said 
Pewee. 

"It's  Mr.  Ball  himself,"  said  Riley,  "and  he'll  whip 
us  all."  And  he  fled,  followed  pell-mell  by  the  whole 
crowd,  excepting  Jack,  who  had  a  constitutional  aversion 
to  running  away.  He  only  slunk  up  close  to  the  fence 
and  so  stood  still. 

"  Hello  !  Who  are  you  ?  "  The  voice  was  not  that 
of  Mr.  Higbie,  nor  that  of  the  old  master,  nor  of  the 


CROWING   AFTER   VICTORY.  95 

watchman,  Bugbee.  With  some  difficulty,  Jack  recog- 
nized the  figure  of  Doctor  Lanham.  "  Oh,  it's  Jack  Dud- 
ley, is  it  ?  "  said  the  doctor,  after  examining  him  in  the 
feeble  moonlight. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  sheepishly. 

"  You're  the  one  that  got  that  whipping  from  the  old 
master.  I  don't  wonder  you  came  out  to-night." 

"  I  do,"  said  Jack,  "  and  I  would  rather  now  that  I 
had  taken  another  such  whipping  than  to  find  myself 
here." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  the  doctor,  "  boys  will  be  boys." 

"  And  fools  will  be  fools,  I  suppose,"  said  Jack. 

"  Mr.  Ball  is  very  ill,"  continued  the  doctor.  "  Find 
the  others  and  tell  them  they  mustn't  come  here  again  to- 
night, or  they'll  kill  him.  I  wouldn't  have  had  this  hap- 
pen for  anything.  The  old  man's  just  broken  down  by 
the  strain  he  has  been  under.  He  has  deserved  it  all,  but 
I  think  you  might  let  him  have  a  little  peace  now." 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Jack,  more  ashamed  of  himself  than 
ever. 

The  doctor  went  back  into  the  house,  and  Jack 
Dudley  and  his  dinner-bell  started  off  down  the  street  in 
search  of  Harry  Weathervane  and  his  tin  pan,  and  Bob 
Holliday  and  his  skillet-lids,  and  Ben  Berry  and  the  bass- 
drum. 

"  Hello,  Jack  ! "  called  out  Bob  from  an  alley.  "  You 
stood  your  ground  the  best  of  all,  didn't  you?  " 


96  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

"  I  wish  I'd  stood  my  ground  in  the  first  place  against 
you  and  Harry,  and  stayed  at  home." 

"  Why,  what's  the  matter  ?     Who  was  it  ?  " 

By  this  time  the  other  boys  were  creeping  out  of  their 
hiding-places  and  gathering  about  Jack. 

"  Well,  it  was  the  doctor,"  said  Jack.  "  Mr.  Ball's 
very  sick  and  we've  'most  killed  him  ;  that's  all.  We're 
a  pack  of  cowards  to  go  tooting  at  a  poor  old  man  when 
he's  already  down,  and  we  ought  to  be  kicked,  every  one 
of  us.  That's  the  way  I  feel  about  it,"  and  Jack  set  out 
for  home,  not  waiting  for  any  leave-taking  with  the  rest, 
who,  for  their  part,  slunk  away  in  various  directions,  anx- 
ious to  get  their  instruments  of  noise  and  torment  hidden 
away  out  of  sight. 

Jack  stuck  the  dinner-bell  under  the  hay  in  the  stable- 
loft,  whence  he  could  smuggle  it  into  the  house  before  his 
mother  should  get  down-stairs  in  the  morning.  Then  he 
went  into  the  house. 

"Where  have  you  been  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Dudley.  "I 
came  home  early  so  that  you  needn't  be  lonesome." 

"  Bob  Holliday  and  Harry  Weathervane  came  for  me, 
and  I  found  it  so  lonesome  here  that  I  went  out  with 
them." 

"  Have  you  got  your  lessons  ?  " 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  Jack,  sheepishly. 

He  was  evidently  not  at  ease,  but  his  mother  said  no 
more.  He  went  off  to  bed  early,  and  lay  awake  a  good 


CROWING   AFTER   VICTORY.  97 

part  of  the  night.  The  next  morning  he  brought  the  old 
dinner-bell  and  set  it  down  in  the  very  middle  of  the 
breakfast-table.  Then  he  told  his  mother  all  about  it. 
And  she  agreed  with  him  that  he  had  done  a  very  mean 

thing. 

5 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AN   ATTEMPT   TO   COLLECT. 

THREE  times  a  week  the  scholars  of  the  "  Greenbank 
Academy  "  met  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Lanham  to  receive 
instruction  from  Professor  Susan,  for  the  school  trustees 
could  not  agree  on  a  new  teacher.  Some  of  the  people 
wanted  one  thing,  and  some  another  ;  a  lady  teacher  was 
advocated  and  opposed  ;  a  young  man,  an  old  man,  a 
new-fashioned  man,  an  old-fashioned  man,  and  no 
teacher  at  all  for  the  "rest  of  the  present  year,  so  as  to 
save  money,  were  projects  "that  found  advocates.  The 
division  of  opinion  was  so  great  that  the  plan  of  no 
school  at  all  was  carried  because  no  other  could  be.  So 
Susan's  class  went  on  for  a  month,  and  grew  to  be  quite 
a  little  society,  and  then  it  came  to  an  end. 

One  evening,  when  the  lessons  were  finished,  Profes- 
sor Susan  said  :  "  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  this  is  the 
last  lesson  I  can  give." 

And  then  they  all  said  "  Aw-w-w-w-w  !  "  in  a  melan- 
choly way. 

"  I  am  going  away  to  school  myself."  Susan  went  on. 


AN   ATTEMPT  TO   COLLECT.  99 

"  My  father  thinks  I  ought  to  go  to  Mr.  Niles's  school  at 
Port  William." 

"  I  shouldn't  think  you'd  need  to  go  any  more,"  said 
Joanna  Merwin.  "  I  thought  you  knew  everything." 

"  Oh,  bless  me  i  "  cried  Susan. 

In  former  days  the  people  of  the  interior — the  Missis- 
sippi Valley — which  used  then  to  be  called  "  the  West," 
were  very  desirous  of  education  for  their  children.  But 
good  teachers  were  scarce.  Ignorant  and  pretentious 
men,  incompetent  wanderers  from  New  England,  who 
had  grown  tired  of  clock-peddling,  or  tin-peddling,  and 
whose  whole  stock  was  assurance,  besides  impostors  of 
other  sorts,  would  get  places  as  teachers  because  teachers 
were  scarce  and  there  were  no  tests  of  fitness.  Now  and 
then  a  retired  Presbyterian  minister  from  Scotland  or 
Pennsylvania,  or  a  college  graduate  from  New  England, 
would  open  a  school  in  some  country  town.  Then  peo- 
ple who  could  afford  it  would  send  their  children  from 
long  distances  to  board  near  the  school,  and  learn  Eng- 
lish grammar,  arithmetic,  and,  in  some  cases,  a  little 
Latin,  or,  perhaps,  to  fit  themselves  for  entrance  to  some 
of  the  sturdy  little  country  colleges  already  growing  up 
in  that  region.  At  Port  William,  in  Kentucky,  there 
was  at  this  time  an  old  minister,  Mr.  Niles,  who  really 
knew  what  he  professed  to  teach,  and  it  was  to  his  school 
that  Dr.  Lanham  was  now  about  to  send  Susan  ;  Harvey 
Collins  and  Henry  Weathervane  had  already  entered 


100  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

the  school.  But  for  poor  boys  like  Jack,  and  Bob  Holli- 
day,  and  Columbus,  who  had  no  money  with  which  to 
pay  board,  there  seemed  no  chance. 

The  evening  on  which  Susan's  class  broke  up,  there 
was  a  long  and  anxious  discussion  between  Jack  Dudley 
and  his  mother. 

"  You  see,  Mother,  if  I  could  get  even  two  months  in 
Mr.  Niles's  school,  I  could  learn  some  Latin,  and  if  I  once 
get  my  fingers  into  Latin,  it  is  like  picking  bricks  out  of 
a  pavement ;  if  I  once  get  a  start,  I  can  dig  it  out  myself. 
I  am  going  to  try  to  find  some  way  to  attend  that  school." 

But  the  mother  only  shook  her  head. 

"  Couldn't  we  move  to  Port  William  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  How  could  we  ?  Here  we  have  a  house  of  our  own, 
which  couldn't  easily  be  rented.  There  we  should  have 
to  pay  rent,  and  where  is  the  money  to  come  from  ?  " 

"  Can't  we  collect  something  from  Gray  ?  " 

Again  Mrs.  Dudley  shook  her  head. 

But  Jack  resolved  to  try  the  hard-hearted  debtor,  him- 
self. It  was  now  four  years  since  Jack's  father  had  been 
persuaded  to  release  a  mortgage  in  order  to  relieve  Fran- 
cis Gray  from  financial  distress.  Gray  had  promised  to 
give  other  security,  but  his  promise  had  proved  worthless. 
Since  that  time  he  had  made  lucky  speculations  and  was 
now  a  man  rather  well  off,  but  he  kept  all  his  property  in 
his  wife's  name,  as  scoundrels  and  fraudulent  debtors  usu- 
ally do.  All  that  Jack  and  his  mother  had  to  show  for 


AN   ATTEMPT  TO   COLLECT.  IOI 

the  one  thousand  dollars  with  four  years'  interest  due 
them,  was  a  judgment  against  Francis  Gray,  with  the 
sheriff's  return  of  "  no  effects  "  on  the  back  of  the  writ  of 
execution  against  the  property  "  of  the  aforesaid  Francis 
Gray."  For  how  could  you  get  money  out  of  a  man  who 
was  nothing  in  law  but  an  agent  for  his  wife  ? 

But  Jack  believed  in  his  powers  of  persuasion,  and  in 
the  softness  of  the  human  heart.  He  had  never  had  to  do 
with  a  man  in  whom  the  greed  for  money  had  turned  the 
heart  to  granite. 

Two  or  three  days  later,  Jack  heard  that  Francis  Gray, 
who  lived  in  Louisville,  had  come  to  Greenbank.  With- 
out consulting  his  mother,  lest  she  should  discourage  him, 
Jack  went  in  pursuit  of  the  slippery  debtor.  He  had  left 
town,  however,  to  see  his  fine  farm,  three  miles  away,  a 
farm  which  belonged  in  law  to  Mrs.  Gray,  but  which  be- 
longed of  right  to  Francis  Gray's  creditors. 

Jack  found  Mr.  Gray  well-dressed  and  of  plausible 
manners.  It  was  hard  to  speak  to  so  fine  a  gentleman  on 
the  subject  of  money.  For  a  minute,  Jack  felt  like  back- 
ing out.  But  then  he  contrasted  his  mother's  pinched 
circumstances  with  Francis  Gray's  abundance,  and  a  little 
wholesome  anger  came  to  his  assistance.  He  remem- 
bered, too,  that  his  cherished  projects  for  getting  an 
education  were  involved,  and  he  mustered  courage  to 
speak. 

;<  Mr.  Gray,  my  name  is  John  Dudley." 


102  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

Jack  thought  that  there  was  a  sign  of  annoyance  on 
Gray's  face  at  this  announcement. 

"  You  borrowed  a  thousand  dollars  of  my  father  once, 
I  believe." 

"  Yes,  that  is  true.  Your  father  was  a  good  friend  of 
mine." 

"  He  released  a  mortgage  so  that  you  could  sell  a 
piece  of  property  when  you  were  in  trouble." 

"  Yes,  your  father  was  a  good  friend  to  me.  I  ac- 
knowledge that  I  wish  I  had  money  enough  to  pay  that 
debt.  It  shall  be  the  very  first  debt  paid  when  I  get  on 
my  feet  again,  and  I  expect  to  get  on  my  feet,  as  sure  as 
I  live." 

"  But,  you  see,  Mr.  Gray,  while  my  mother  is  pinched 
for  money,  you  have  plenty." 

"  It's  all  Mrs.  Gray's  money.  She  has  plenty.  I 
haven't  anything." 

"  But  I  want  to  go  to  school  to  Port  William.  My 
mother  is  too  poor  to  help  me.  If  you  could  let  me  have 
twenty-five  dollars " 

"  But,  you  see,  I  can't.  I  haven't  got  twenty-five 
dollars  to  my  name,  that  I  can  control.  But  by  next  New 
Year's  I  mean  to  pay  your  mother  the  whole  thousand 
that  I  owe  her." 

This  speech  impressed  Jack  a  little,  but  remembering 
how  often  Gray  had  broken  such  promises,  he  said  : 

"Don't  you  think  it  a  little  hard  that  you  and  Mrs. 


AN   ATTEMPT  TO   COLLECT.  IO3 

Gray  are  well  off,  while  my  mother  is  so  poor,  all  because 
you  won't  keep  your  word  given  to  my  father  ?  " 

"  But,  you  see,  I  haven't  any  money,  excepting  what 
Mrs.  Gray  lets  me  have,"  said  Mr.  Gray. 

"  She  seems  to  let  you  have  what  you  want.  Don't 
you  think,  if  you  coaxed  her,  she  would  lend  you  twenty- 
five  dollars  till  New  Year's,  to  help  me  go  to  school  one 
more  term  ?  " 

Francis  Gray  was  a  little  stunned  by  this  way  of  ask- 
ing it.  For  a  moment,  looking  at  the  entreating  face  of 
the  boy,  he  began  to  feel  a  disposition  to  relent  a  little. 
This  was  new  and  strange  for  him.  To  pay  twenty-five 
dollars  that  he  was  not  obliged  by  any  self-interest  to  pay, 
would  have  been  an  act  contrary  to  all  his  habits  and  to 
all  the  business  maxims  in  which  he  had  schooled  himself. 
Nevertheless,  he  fingered  his  papers  a  minute  in  an  unde- 
cided way,  and  then  he  said  that  he  couldn't  do  it.  If  he 
began  to  pay  creditors  in  that  way  "  it  would  derange  his 
business." 

"But,"  urged  Jack,  "think  how  much  my  father 
deranged  his  business  to  oblige  you,  and  now  you  rob  me 
of  my  own  money,  and  of  my  chance  to  get  an  education." 

Mr.  Gray  was  a  little  ruffled,  but  he  got  up  and  went 
out  of  the  room.  When  Jack  looked  out  of  the  window 
a  minute  later,  Gray  was  riding  away  down  the  road 
without  so  much  as  bidding  the  troublesome  Jack  good- 
morning. 


104  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

There  was  nothing  for  Jack  to  do  but  to  return  to 
town  and  make  the  best  of  it.  But  all  the  way  back,  the 
tired  and  discouraged  boy  felt  that  his  last  chance  of  be- 
coming an  educated  man  had  vanished.  He  told  his 
mother  about  his  attempt  on  Mr.  Gray's  feelings  and  of 
his  failure.  They  discussed  the  matter  the  whole  even- 
ing, and  could  see  no  chance  for  Jack  to  get  the  educa- 
tion he  wanted. 

"  I  mean  to  die  a-trying,"  said  Jack,  doggedly,  as  he 
went  off  to  bed. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

AN   EXPLORING  EXPEDITION. 

THE   next   day   but   one,   there   came  a  letter   to    Mrs. 
Dudley  that  increased  her  perplexity. 

"  Your  Aunt  Hannah  is  sick,"  she  said  to  Jack,  "and 
I  must  go  to  take  care  of  her.  I  don't  know  what  to  do 
with  you." 

"  I'll  go  to  Port  William  to  school,"  said  Jack. 
"  See  if  I  don't." 

"How?"  asked  his  mother.  "We  don't  know  a 
soul  on  that  side  of  the  river.  You  couldn't  make  any 
arrangement." 

"  Maybe  I  can,"  said  Jack.  "Bob  Holliday  used  to 
live  on  the  Indiana  side,  opposite  Port  William.  I  mean 
to  talk  with  him." 

Bob  was  setting  onions  in  one  of  the  onion-patches 
which  abounded  about  Greenbank,  and  which  were,  from 
March  to- July,  the  principal  sources  of  pocket-money  to 
the  boys.  Jack  thought  best  to  wait  until  the  day's  work 
was  finished.  Then  he  sat,  where  Greenbank  boys  were 
fond  of  sitting,  on  the  sloping  top-board  of  a  broad  fence, 
5* 


106  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

and  told  his  friend  Bob  of  his  eager  desire  to  go  to  Port 
William. 

"  I'd  like  to  go  too,"  said  Bob.  "  This  is  the  last 
year's  schooling  I'm  to  have." 

"  Don't  you  know  any  house,  or  any  place,  where  we 
could  keep  '  bach  '  together  ?  " 

"  W'y,  yes,"  said  Bob  ;  "  if  you  didn't  mind  rowing 
across  the  river  every  day,  I've  got  a  skiff,  and  there's 
the  old  hewed- log  house  on  the  Indianny  side  where  we 
used  to  live.  A  body  might  stay  as  long  as  he  pleased 
in  that  house,  I  guess.  Judge  Kane  owns  it,  and  he's 
one  of  the  best-hearted  men  in  the  country." 

"  It's  eight  miles  down  there,"  said  Jack. 

"Only  seven  if  you  go  by  water,"  said  Bob.  "Let's 
put  out  to-morry  morning  early.  Let's  go  in  the  skiff; 
we  can  row  and  cordelle  it  up  the  river  again,  though  it 
is  a  job." 

Bright  and  early,  the  boys  started  down  the  river, 
rowing  easily  with  the  strong,  steady  current  of  the 
Ohio,  holding  their  way  to  Judge  Kane's,  whose  house 
was  over  against  Port  William.  This  Judge  Kane  was 
an  intelligent  and  wealthy  farmer,  liked  by  everybody. 
He  was  not  a  lawyer,  but  had  once  held  the  office  of 
"associate  judge,"  and  hence  the  title,  which  suited  his 
grave  demeanor.  He  looked  at  the  two  boys  out  of  his 
small,  gray,  kindly  eyes,  hardly  ever  speaking  a  word. 
He  did  not  immediately  answer  when  they  asked  per- 


AN   EXPLORING   EXPEDITION.  IO/ 

mission  to  occupy  the  old,  unused  log-house,  but  got 
them  to  talk  about  their  plans,  and  watched  them 
closely.  Then  he  took  them  out  to  see  his  bees.  He 
showed  them  his  ingenious  hives  and  a  bee-house  which 
he  had  built  to  keep  out  the  moths  by  drawing  chalk- 
lines  about  it,  for  over  these  lines  the  wingless  grub  of 
the  moth  could  not  crawl.  Then  he  showed  them  a  glass 
hive,  in  which  all  the  processes  of  the  bees'  housekeep- 
ing could  be  observed.  After  that,  he  took  the  boys  to 
the  old  log-house,  and  pointed  out  some  holes  in  the 
roof  that  would  have  to  be  fixed.  And  even  then  he  did 
not  give  them  any  answer  to  their  request,  but  told  them 
to  stay  to  dinner  and  he  would  see  about  it,  all  of  which 
was  rather  hard  on  boyish  impatience.  They  had  a  good 
dinner  of  fried  chicken  and  biscuits  and  honey,  served  in 
the  neatest  manner  by  the  motherly  Mrs.  Kane.  Then 
the  Judge  suggested  that  they  ought  to  see  Mr.  Niles 
about  taking  them  into  the  school.  So  his  skiff  was 
launched,  and  he  rowed  with  them  across  the  river, 
which  is  here  about  a  mile  wide,  to  Port  William.  Here 
he  introduced  them  to  Mr.  Niles,  an  elderly  man,  a  little 
bent  and  a  little  positive  in  his  tone,  as  is  the  habit  of 
teachers,  but  with  true  kindness  in  his  manner.  The 
boys  had  much  pleasure  at  recess  time  in  greeting  their 
old  school-mates,  Harvey  Collins,  Henry  Weatheryane, 
and,  above  all,  Susan  Lanham,  whom  they  called  Profes- 
sor. These  three  took  a  sincere  interest  in  the  plans  of 


108  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 


Bob  and  Jack,  and  Susan  spoke  a  good  word  for  them  to 
Mr.  Niles,  who,  on  his  part,'  offered  to  give  Jack  Latin 
without  charging  him  anything  more  than  the  rates  for 
scholars  in  the  English  branches.  Then  they  rowed 
back  to  Judge  Kane's  landing,  where  he  told  them  they 
could  have  the  house  without  rent,  and  that  they  could 
get  slabs  and  other  waste  at  his  little  saw-mill  to  fix  up 
the  cracks.  Then  he  made  kindly  suggestions  as  to  the 
furniture  they  should  bring — mentioning  a  lantern,  an  ax, 
and  various  other  articles  necessary  for  a  camp  life. 
They  bade  him  good-bye  at  last,  and  started  home,  now 
rowing  against  the  current  and  now  cordelling  along  the 
river  shore,  when  they  grew  tired  of  rowing.  In  cordel- 
ling, one  sits  in  the  skiff  and  steers,  while  the  other  walks 
on  the  shore,  drawing  the  boat  by  a  rope  over  the  shoul- 
ders. The  work  of  rowing  and  cordelling  was  hard,  but 
they  carried  light  and  hopeful  hearts.  Jack  was  sure 
now  that  he  should  overcome  all  obstacles  and  get  a 
good  education.  As  for  Bob,  he  had  no  hope  higher 
than  that  of  worrying  through  vulgar  fractions  before  set- 
tling down  to  hard  work. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

HOUSEKEEPING    EXPERIENCES. 

MRS.  DUDLEY  having  gone  to  Cincinnati  the  next  day 
to  attend  her  sister,  who  was  ill,  Jack  was  left  to  make 
his  arrangements  for  housekeeping  with  Bob.  Each  of 
the  boys  took  two  cups,  two  saucers,  two  plates,  and  two 
knives  and  forks.  Things  were  likely  to  get  lost  or 
broken,  and  therefore  they  provided  duplicates.  Besides, 
they  might  have  company  to  dinner  some  day,  and,  more- 
over, they  would  need  the  extra  dishes  to  "  hold  things," 
as  Jack  expressed  it.  They  took  no  tumblers,  but  each 
was  provided  with  a  tin  cup.  Bob  remembered  the  lan- 
tern, and  Jack  put  in  an  ax.  They  did  not  take  much 
food  ;  they  could  buy  that  of  farmers  or  in  Port  William. 
They  got  a  "  gang,"  or,  as  they  called  it,  a  "  trotline,"  to 
lay  down  in  the  river  for  catfish,  perch,  and  shovel-nose 
sturgeon,  for  there  was  no  game-law  then.  Bob  provided 
an  iron  pot  to  cook  the  fish  in,  and  Jack  a  frying-pan  and 
tea-kettle.  Their  bedding  consisted  of  an  empty  tick,  to 
be  filled  with  straw  in  Judge  Kane's  barn,  some  equally 
empty  pillow-ticks,  and  a  pair  of  brown  sheets  and  two 


110  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

blankets.  But,  with  one  thing  and  another,  the  skiff  was 
well  loaded. 

A  good  many  boys  stood  on  the  bank  as  they  em- 
barked, and  among  them  was  Columbus,  who  had  a  feel- 
ing that  his  best  friends  were  about  to  desert  him,  and 
who  would  gladly  have  been  one  of  the  party  if  he  could 
have  afforded  the  expense. 

In  the  little  crowd  which  watched  the  embarkation 
was  Hank  Rathbone,  an  old  hunter  and  pioneer,  who 
made  several  good  suggestions  about  their  method  of 
loading  the  boat. 

"  But  where's  your  stove  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Stove  ?  "  said  Bob.  "  We  can't  take  a  stove  in  this 
thing.  There's  a  big  old  fire-place  in  the  house  that'll  do 
to  cook  by." 

"But  hot  weather's  comin*  soon,"  said  old  Hank, 
"  and  then  you'll  want  to  cook  out  in  the  air,  I  reckon. 
Besides,  it  takes  a  power  of  wood  for  a  fire-place.  If  one 
of  you  will  come  along  with  me  to  the  tin-shop,  I'll  have 
a  stove  made  for  you,  of  the  best  paytent-right  sort,  that'll 
go  into  a  skiff,  and  that  won't  weigh  more'n  three  or  four 
pounds  and  won't  cost  but  about  two  bits." 

Jack  readily  agreed  to  buy  as  good  a  thing  as  a  stove 
for  twenty-five  cents,  and  so  he  went  with  Hank  Rath- 
bone  to  the  tin-shop,  stopping  to  get  some  iron  on  the 
way.  Two  half-inch  round  rods  of  iron  five  feet  long 
were  cut  and  sharpened  at  each  end.  Then  the  ends  were 


HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES.  in 


OLD  HANK'S  PL.* 
STOVE. 


turned  down  so  as  to  make  on  each  rod  two  pointed  legs 
of  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  thus  leave  two  feet  of 
the  rod  for  a  horizontal  piece. 

"Now,"  said  the  old    hunter,   "you  drive  about  six 
inches  of  each  leg  into  the  ground,  and 
stand  them   about   a  foot  apart.     Now 
for  a  top." 

For  this  he  had  a  piece  of  sheet-iron 
cut  out  two  feet  long  and  fourteen  inches 
wide,  with  a  round  kettle-hole  near  one 
end.  The  edges  of  the  long  sides  of 
the  sheet-iron  were  bent  down  to  fit  over 
the  rods. 

"Lay  that  over  your  rods,"  said 
Hank,  "  and  you've  got  a  stove  two  foot  long,  one  foot 
high,  and  more  than  one  foot  wide,  and  you  can  build 
your  fire  of  chips,  instid  of  logs.  You  can  put  your  tea- 
kittle,  pot,  pipkin,  griddle,  skillet,  or  gridiron  on  to  the 
hole" — the  old  man  eyed  it  admiringly.  "  It's  good  for 
bilin',  fryin',  or  brilin',  and  all  fer  two"  bits.  They  ain't 
..many  young  couples  gits  set  up  as  cheap  as  that !  " 

An  hour  and  a  half  of  rowing  down-stream  brought 
the  boys  to  the  old  cabin.  The  life  there  involved  more 
hard  work  than  they  had  expected.  Notwithstanding 
Jack's  experience  in  helping  his  mother,  the  baking  of 
corn-bread,  and  the  frying  of  bacon  or  fish,  were  difficult 
tasks,  and  both  the  boys  had  red  faces  when  supper  was 


112  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

on  the  table.  But,  as  time  wore  on,  they  became  skilful, 
and  though  the  work  was  hard,  it  was  done  patiently  and 
pretty  well.  Between  cooking,  and  cleaning,  and  fixing, 
and  getting  wood,  and  rowing  to  school  and  back,  there 
was  not  a  great  deal  of  time  left  for  study  out  of  school, 
but  Jack  made  a  beginning  in  Latin,  and  Bob  perspired 
quite  as  freely  over  the  addition  of  fractions  as  over  the 
frying-pan. 

They  rarely  had  recreation,  excepting  that  of  taking 
the  fish  off  their  trot-line  in  the  morning,  when  there 
were  any  on  it.  Once  or  twice  they  allowed  themselves 
to  visit  an  Indian  mound  or  burial-place  on  the  summit  of 
a  neighboring  hill,  where  idle  boys  and  other  loungers 
had  dug  up  many  bones  and  thrown  them  down  the  de- 
clivity. Jack,  who  had  thoughts  of  being  a  doctor,  made 
an  effort  to  gather  a  complete  Indian  skeleton,  but  the 
dry  bones  had  become  too  much  mixed  up.  He  could 
not  get  any  three  bones  to  fit  together,  and  his  man,  as 
he  tried  to  put  him  together,  was  the  most  miscellaneous 
creature  imaginable, — neither  man,  woman,  nor  child. 
Bob  was  a  little  afraid  to  have  these  human  ruins  stored 
under  the  house,  lest  he  might  some  night  see  a  ghost 
with  war-paint  and  tomahawk  ;  but  Jack,  as  became  a 
boy  of  scientific  tastes,  pooh-poohed  all  superstitions  or 
sentimental  considerations  in  the  matter.  He  told  Bob 
that,  if  he  should  ever  see  the  ghost  which  that  frame- 
work belonged  to,  it  would  be  the  ghost  of  the  whole 


"  THE   LANDING   OF  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS 


HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES.  115 


Shawnee  tribe,  for  there  were  nearly  as  many  individuals 
represented  as  there  were  bones  in  the  skeleton. 

The  one  thing  that  troubled  Jack  was  that  he  couldn't 
get  rid  of  the  image  of  Columbus  as  they  had  seen  him 
when  they  left  Greenbank,  standing  sorrowfully  on  the 
river  bank.  The  boys  often  debated  between  themselves 
how  they  could  manage  to  have  him  one  of  their  party, 
but  they  were  both  too  poor  to  pay  the  small  tuition  fees, 
though  his  board  would  not  cost  much.  They  could  not 
see  any  way  of  getting  over  the  difficulty,  but  they 
talked  with  Susan  about  it,  and  Susan  took  hold  of  the 
matter  in  her  fashion  by  writing  to  her  father  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  result  of  her  energetic  effort  was  that  one  after- 
noon, as  they  came  out  of  school,  when  the  little  packet- 
steamer  was  landing  at  the  wharf,  who  should  come 
ashore  but  Christopher  Columbus,  in  his  best  but  thread- 
bare clothes,  tugging  away  at  an  old-fashioned  carpet- 
bag, which  was  too  much  for  him  to  carry.  Bob  seized 
the  carpet-bag  and  almost  lifted  the  dignified  little  lad 
himself  off  his  feet  in  his  joyful  welcome,  while  Jack,  find- 
ing nothing  else  to  do,  stood  still  and  hurrahed.  They 
soon  had  the  dear  little  spindle-shanks  and  his  great  car- 
pet-bag stowed  away  in  the  skiff.  As  they  rowed  to  the 
north  bank  of  the  river,  Columbus  explained  how  Dr. 
Lanham  had  undertaken  to  pay  his  expenses,  if  the  boys 
would  take  him  into  partnership,  but  he  said  he  was 


Il6  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

'most  afraid  to  come,  because  he  couldn't  chop  wood,  and 
he  wasn't  good  for  much  in  doing  the  work. 

"  Never  mind,  honey,"  said  Bob.  "  Jack  and  I  don't 
care  whether  you  work  or  not.  You  are  worth  your 
keep,  any  time." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  we  even  tried  hard  yesterday  to 
catch  a  young  owl  to  make  a  pet  of,  but  we  couldn't  get 
it.  You  see,  we're  so  lonesome." 

"  I  suppose  I'll  do  for  a  pet  owl,  won't  I  ?  "  said  little 
Columbus,  with  a  strange  and  quizzical  smile  on  his 
meagre  face.  And  as  he  sat  there  in  the  boat,  with  his 
big  head  and  large  eyes,  the  name  seemed  so  appropriate 
that  Bob  and  Jack  both  laughed  outright. 

But  the  Pet  Owl  made  himself  useful  in  some  ways. 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  housekeeping  of  Bob  and  Jack 
had  not  always  been  of  the  tidiest  kind.  They  were 
boys,  and  they  were  in  a  hurry.  But  Columbus  had  the 
tastes  of  a  girl  about  a  house.  He  did  not  do  any  cook- 
ing or  chopping  to  speak  of,  but  he  fixed  up.  He  kept 
the  house  neat,  cleaned  the  candlestick  every  morning, 
and  washed  the  windows  now  and  then,  and  as  spring  ad- 
vanced he  brought  in  handfuls  of  wild  flowers.  The  boys 
declared  that  they  had  never  felt  at  home  in  the  old  house 
until  the  Pet  Owl  came  to  be  its  mistress.  He  wouldn't 
let  anything  be  left  around  out  of  place,  but  all  the  pots, 
pans,  dishes,  coats,  hats,  books,  slates,  the  lantern,  the 
boot-jack,  and  other  slender  furniture,  were  put  in  order 


HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES. 


before  school  time,  so  that  when  they  got  back  in  the 
afternoon  the  place  was  inviting  and  home-like.  When 
Judge  Kane  and  his  wife  stopped  during  their  Sunday- 
afternoon  stroll,  to  see  how  the  lads  got  on,  Mrs.  Kane 
praised  their  housekeeping. 

"  That  is  all  the  doings  of  the  Pet  Owl,"  said  Bob. 

"  Pet  Owl  ?     Have  you  one  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Kane. 

The  boys  laughed,  and  Bob  explained  that  Columbus 
was  the  pet. 

That  evening,  the  boys  had  a  box  of  white  honey  for 
supper,  sent  over  by  Mrs.  Kane,  and  the  next  Saturday 
afternoon  Jack  and  Bob  helped  Judge  Kane  finish  plant- 
ing his  corn-field. 

One  unlucky  day,  Columbus  discovered  Jack's  box  of 
Indian  bones  under  the  house,  and  he  turned  pale  and 
had  a  fit  of  shivering  for  a  long  time  afterward.  It  was 
necessary  to  move  the  box  into  an  old  stable  to  quiet  his 
shuddering  horror.  The  next  Sunday  afternoon,  the  Pet 
Owl  came  in  with  another  fit  of  terror,  shivering  as  before. 

"What's  the  matter  now,  Lummy?"  said  Jack. 
<l  Have  you  seen  any  more  Indians  ?  " 

"  Pewee  and  his  crowd  have  gone  up  to  the  Indian 
Mound,"  said  Columbus. 

<l  Well,  let  'em  go/'  said  Bob.  "  I  suppose  they  know 
the  way,  don't  they  ?  I  should  like  to  see  them.  I've 
been  so  long  away  from  Greenbank  that  even  a  yellow 
dog  from  there  would  be  welcome." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

GHOSTS. 

JACK  and  Bob  had  to  amuse  Columbus  with  stories,  to 
divert  his  mind  from  the  notion  that  Pewee  and  his  party 
meant  them  some  harm.  The  Indian  burying-ground 
was  not  an  uncommon  place  of  resort  on  Sundays  for 
loafers  and  idlers,  and  now  and  then  parties  came  from 
as  far  as  Greenbank,  to  have  the  pleasure  of  a  ride  and 
the  amusement  of  digging  up  Indian  relics  from  the  ceme- 
tery on  the  hill.  This  hill-top  commanded  a  view  of 
the  Ohio  River  for  many  miles  in  both  directions,  and  of 
the  Kentucky  River,  which  emptied  into  the  Ohio  just  op- 
posite. I  do  not  know  whether  the  people  who  can  find 
amusement  in  digging  up  bones  and  throwing  them  down- 
hill enjoy  scenery  or  not,  but  I  have  heard  it  urged  that 
even  some  dumb  animals,  as  horses,  enjoy  a  landscape; 
and  I  once  knew  a  large  dog,  in  Switzerland,  who  would 
sit  enchanted  for  a  long  time  on  the  brink  of  a  mountain 
cliff,  gazing  off  at  the  lake  below.  It  is  only  fair  to  sup- 
pose, therefore,  that  even  these  idle  diggers  in  Indian 
mounds  had  some  pleasure  in  looking  from  a  hill-top  ;  at 


GHOSTS.  119 


any  rate,  they  were  fond  of  frequenting  this  one.  Pewee, 
and  Riley,  and  Ben  Berry,  and  two  or  three  others  of  the 
same  feather,  had  come  down  on  this  Sunday  to  see  the 
Indian  Mound  and  to  find  any  other  sport  that  might  lie 
in  their  reach.  When  they  had  dug  up  and  thrown  away 
down  the  steep  hill-side  enough  bones  to  satisfy  their 
jackal  proclivities,  they  began  to  cast  about  them  for  some 
more  exciting,  diversion.  As  there  were  no  water-melon 
patches  nor  orchards  to  be  robbed  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  they  decided  to  have  an  egg-supper,  and  then  to 
wait  for  the  moon  to  rise  after  midnight  before  starting 
to  row  and  cordelle  their  two  boats  up  the  river  again  to 
Greenbank.  The  fun  of  an  egg-supper  to  Pewee's  party 
consisted  not  so  much  in  the  eggs  as  in  the  manner  of  get- 
ting them.  Every  nest  in  Judge  Kane's  chicken-house 
was  rummaged  that  night,  and  Mrs.  Kane  found  next  day 
that  all  the  nest-eggs  were  gone,  and  that  one  of  her 
young  hens  was  missing  also. 

About  dark,  little  Allen  Mackay,  a  round-bodied, 
plump-faced,  jolly  fellow  who  lived  near  the  place  where 
the  skiffs  were  landed,  and  who  had  spent  the  afternoon 
at  the  Indian  Mound,  came  to  the  door  of  the  old  log- 
house. 

"  I  wanted  to  say  that  you  fellows  have  always  done 
the  right  thing  by  me.  You've  set  me  acrost  oncet  or 
twicet,  and  you've  always  been  'clever'  to  me,  and  I 
don't  want  to  see  no  harm  done  you.  You'd  better  look 


120  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 


out  to-night.  They's  some  chaps  from  Greenbank  down 
here,  and  they're  in  for  a  frolic,  and  somebody's  hen- 
roost'll  suffer,  I  guess  ;  and  they  don't  like  you  boys,  and 
they  talked  about  routing  you  out  to-night." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Jack. 

"  Let  'em  rout,"  said  Bob. 

But  the  poor  little  Pet  Owl  was  all  in  a  cold  shudder 
again. 

About  eleven  o'clock,  King  Pewee's  party  had  picked 
the  last  bone  of  Mrs.  Kane's  chicken.  It  was  yet  an  hour 
and  a  half  before  the  moon  would  be  up,  and  there  was 
time  for  some  fun.  Two  boys  from  the  neighborhood, 
who  had  joined  the  party,  agreed  to  furnish  dough-faces 
for  them  all.  Nothing  more  ghastly  than  masks  of  dough 
can  well  be  imagined,  and  when  the  boys  all  put  them  on, 
and  had  turned  their  coats  wrong-side  out,  they  were 
almost  afraid  of  one  another. 

"  Now,"  said  Riley,  "  Pewee  will  knock  at  the  door, 
and  when  they  come  with  their  lantern  or  candle,  we'll  all 
rush  in  and  howl  like  Indians." 

"  How  do  Indians  howl  ?  "  asked  Ben  Berry. 

"  Oh,  any  way — like  a  dog  or  a  wolf,  you  know.  And 
then  they'll  be  scared  to  death,  and  we'll  just  pitch  their 
beds,  and  dishes,  and  everything  else  out  of  the  door,  and 
show  them  how  to  clean  house." 

Riley  didn't  know  that  Allen  Mackay  and  Jack  Dud- 
ley, hidden  in  the  bushes,  heard  this  speech,  nor  that 


GHOSTS.  121 


Jack,  as  soon  as  he  had  heard  the  plan,  crept  away  to  tell 
Bob  at  the  house  what  the  enemy  proposed  to  do. 

As  the  crowd  neared  the  log-house,  Riley  prudently 
fell  to  the  rear,  and  pushed  Pevvee  to  the  front.  There 
was  just  the  faintest  whitening  of  the  sky  from  the  coming 
moon,  but  the  large  apple-trees  in  front  of  the  log-house 
made  it  very  dark,  and  the  dough-face  crowd  were  obliged 
almost  to  feel  their  way  as  they  came  into  the  shadow 
of  these  trees.  Just  as  Riley  was  exhorting  Pewee  to 
knock  at  the  door,  and  the  whole  party  was  tittering  at 
the  prospect  of  turning  Bob,  Jack,  and  Columbus  out  of 
bed  and  out  of  doors,  they  all  stopped  short  and  held 
their  breaths. 

"Good  gracious!  Julius  Caesar!  sakes  alive  !"  whis- 
pered Riley.  "  What — wh — what  is  that  ?  " 

Nobody  ran.  All  stood  as  though  frozen  in  their 
places.  For  out  from  behind  the  corner  of  the  house  came 
slowly  a  skeleton  head.  It  was  ablaze  inside,  and  the 
light  shone  out  of  all  the  openings.  The  thing  had  no 
feet,  no  hands,  and  no  body.  It  actually  floated  through 
the  air,  and  now  and  then  joggled  and  danced  a  little.  It 
rose  and  fell,  but  still  came  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  at- 
tacking party  of  dough-faces,  who  for  their  part  could  not 
guess  that  Bob  Holliday  had  put  a  lighted  candle  into  an 
Indian's  skull,  and  then  tied  this  ghost's  lantern  to  a  wire 
attached  to  the  end  of  a  fishing-rod,  which  he  operated 

from  behind  the  house. 
6 


122  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

Pewee's  party  drew  close  together,  and  Riley  whis- 
pered hoarsely  : 

"The  house  is  ha'nted." 

I  Just  then  the  hideous  and  fiery  death's-head  made  a 
circuit,  and  swung,  grinning,  inta  Riley's  face,  who  could 
stand  no  more,  but  broke  into  a  full  run  toward  the  river. 
At  the  same  instant,  Jack  tooted  a  dinner-horn,  Judge 
Kane's  big  dog  ran  barking  out  of  the  log-house,  and  the 
enemy  were  routed  like  the  Midianites  before  Gideon. 
Their  consternation  was  greatly  increased  at  finding  their 
boats  gone,  for  Allen  Mackay  had  towed  them  into  a  lit- 
tle creek  out  of  sight,  and  hidden  the  oars  in  an  elder 
thicket.  Riley  and  one  of  the  others  were  so  much  afraid 
of  the  ghosts  that  "  ha'nted''  the  old  house,  that  they  set 
out  straightway  for  Greenbank,  on  toot.  Pewee  and  the 
others  searched  everywhere  for  the  boats,  and  at  last 
sat  down  and  waited  for  daylight.  Just  as  day  was 
breaking,  Bob  Holliday  came  down  to  the  river  with 
a  towel,  as  though  for  a  morning  bath.  Very  accident- 
ally, of  course,  he  came  upon  Pewee  and  his  party,  all 
tired  out,  sitting  on  the  bank  in  hope  that  day  might 
throw  some  light  on  the  fate  of  their  boats. 

"  Hello,  Pewee  !     You  here  ?     What's  the  matter  ?  " 
said  Bob,  with  feigned  surprise. 

"  Some  thief  took  our  skiffs.     We've  been  looking  for 
them  all  night,  and  can't  find  them." 

"  That's  curious,"  said  Bob,  sitting  down  and  leaning 


GHOSTS.  123 


his  head  on  his  hand.  "  Where  did  you  get  supper  last 
night  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  we  brought  some  with  us." 

"Look  here,  Pewee,  I'll  bet  I  can  find  your  boats." 

"  How?  " 

"  You  give  me  money  enough  among  you  to  pay  for 
the  eggs  and  the  chicken  you  had  for  supper,  and  I'll  find 
out  who  hid  your  boats  and  where  the  oars  are,  and  it'll 
all  be  square." 

Pewee  was  now  sure  that  the  boat  had  been  taken  as 
indemnity  for  the  chicken  and  the  eggs.  He  made  every 
one  of  the  party  contribute  something  until  he  had  col- 
lected what  Bob  thought  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  stolen 
things,  and  Bob  took  it  and  went  up  and  found  Judge 
Kane,  who  had  just  risen,  and  left  the  money  with  him. 
Then  he  made  a  circuit  to  Allen  Mackay's,  waked  him  up, 
and  got  the  oars,  which  they  put  into  the  boats  ;  and  push- 
ing these  out  of  their  hiding-place,  they  rowed  them  into 
the  river,  delivering  them  to  Pewee  and  company,  who 
took  them  gratefully.  Jack  and  Columbus  had  now 
made  their  appearance,  and  as  Pewee  got  into  his 
boat,  he  thought  to  repay  Bob's  kindness  with  a  little 
advice. 

"  I  say,  if  I  was  you  fellers,  you  know,  I  wouldn't  stay 
in  that  old  cabin  a  single  night." 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Jack. 


124  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

"  Because,"  said  Pewee,  "  I've  heard  tell  that  it  is 
ha'nted." 

"  Ghosts  aren't  anything  when  you  get  used  to 
them,"  said  Jack.  "  We  don't  mind  them  at  all." 

"  Don't  you  ?  "  said  Pewee,  who  was  now  rowing 
against  the  current. 

"  No,"  said  Bob,  "  nor  dough-faces  neither." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE     RETURN     HOME. 

As    MR.  NILES'S   school-term   drew  to  a  close,  the  two 
boys  began  to  think  of  their  future. 

"  I  expect  to  work  with  my  hands,  Jack,"  said  Bob  ; 
"  I  haven't  got  a  head  for  books,  as  you  have.  But  I'd 
like  to  know  a  leetle  more  before  I  settle  down.  I  wish 
I  could  make  enough  at  something  to  be  able  to  go  to 
school  next  winter." 

"  If  I  only  had  your  strength  and  size,  Bob,  I'd  go  to- 
work  for  somebody  as  a  farmer.  But  I  have  more  than 
myself  to  look  after.  I  must  help  mother  after  this  term 
is  out.  I  must  get  something  to  do,  and  then  learning 
will  be  slow  business.  They  talk  about  Ben  Franklin 
studying  at  night  and  all  that,  but  it's  a  little  hard  on  a 
fellow  who  hasn't  the  constitution  of  a  Franklin.  Still, 
I'm  going  to  have  an  education,  by  hook  or  crook." 

At  this  point  in  the  conversation,  Judge  Kane  came 
in.  As  usual,  he  said  little,  but  he  got  the  boys  to  talk 
about  their  own  affairs. 

"  When  do  you  go  home  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Next  Friday  evening,  when  school  is  out,"  said  Jack. 


126  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL- BOY. 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  "    he  asked  of  Bob. 

"  Get  some  work  this  summer,  and  then  try  to  get 
another  winter  of  schooling  next  year,"  was  the  answer. 

"  What  kind  of  work  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  can  farm  better  than  I  can  do  anything  else," 
said  Bob.  "  And  I  like  it,  too." 

And  then  Judge  Kane  drew  from  Jack  a  full  account 
of  his  affairs,  and  particularly  of  the  debt  due  from  Gray, 
and  of  his  interview  with  Gray. 

"  If  you  could  get  a  few  hundred  dollars,  so  as  to 
make  your  mother  feel  easy  for  a  while,  living  as  she 
does  in  her  own  house,  you  could  go  to  school  next 
winter." 

"  Yes,  and  then  I  could  get  oh  after  that,  somehow, 
by  myself,  I  suppose,"  said  Jack.  "  But  the  few  hundred 
dollars  is  as  much  out  of  my  reach  as  a  million  would  be, 
and  my  father  used  to  say  that  it  was  a  bad  thing  to  get 
into  the  way  of  figuring  on  things  that  we  could  never 
reach." 

The  Judge  sat  still,  and  looked  at  Jack  out  of  his  half- 
closed  gray  eyes  for  a  minute  in  silence. 

"  Come  up  to  the  house  with  me,"  he  said,  rising. 

Jack  followed  him  to  the  house,  where  the  Judge 
opened  his  desk  and  took  out  a  red-backed  memo- 
randum-book, and  dictated  while  Jack  copied  in  his  own 
handwriting  the  description  of  a  piece  of  land  on  a  slip  of 
paper. 


THE   RETURN   HOME.  \2J 

"  If  you  go  over  to  school,  to-morrow,  an  hour 
earlier  than  usual,"  he  said,  "  call  at  the  county  clerk's 
office,  show  him  your  memorandum,  and  find  out  in 
whose  name  that  land  stands.  It  is  timber-land  five 
miles  back,  and  worth  five  hundred  dollars.  When  you 
get  the  name  of  the  owner,  you  will  know  what  to  do  ;  if 
not,  you  can  ask  me,  but  you'd  better  not  mention  my 
name  to  anybody  in  this  matter." 

Jack  thanked  Mr.  Kane,  but  left  him  feeling  puzzled. 
In  fact,  the  farmer-judge  seemed  to  like  to  puzzle  people, 
or  at  least  he  never  told  anything  more  than  was  neces- 
sary. 

The  next  morning,  the  boys  were  off  early  to  Port 
William.  Jack  wondered  if  the  land  might  belong  to  his 
father,  but  then  he  was  sure  his  father  never  had  any  land 
in  Kentucky.  Or,  was  it  the  property  of  some  dead  uncle 
or  cousin,  and  was  he  to  find  a  fortune,  like  the  hero  of  a 
cheap  story  ?  But  when  the  county  clerk,  whose  office  it 
is  to  register  deeds  in  that  county,  took  the  little  piece 
of  paper,  and  after  scanning  it,  took  down  some  great 
deed-books  and  mortgage-books,  and  turned  the  pages 
awhile,  and  then  wrote  "  Francis  Gray,  owner,  no  incum- 
brance,"  on  the  same  slip  with  the  description,  Jack  had 
the  key  to  Mr.  Kane's  puzzle. 

It  was  now  Thursday  forenoon,  and  Jack  was  eager  on 
all  accounts  to  get  home,  especially  to  see  the  lawyer  in 
charge  of  his  father's  claim  against  Mr.  Gray.  So  the 
6* 


128  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

next  day  at  noon,  as  there  was  nothing  left  but  the  clos- 
ing exercises,  the  three  boys  were  excused,  and  bade 
good-bye  to  their  teacher  and  school-mates,  and  rowed 
back  to  their  own  side  of  the  river.  They  soon  had  the 
skiff  loaded,  for  all  three  were  eager  to  see  the  folks  at 
Greenbank.  Jack's  mother  had  been  at  home  more  than 
a  week,  and  he  was  the  most  impatient  of  the  three.  But 
they  could  not  leave  without  a  good-bye  to  Judge  Kane 
and  his  wife,  to  which  good-bye  they  added  a  profusion 
of  bashful  boyish  thanks  for  kindness  received.  The 
Judge  walked  to  the  boat-landing  with  them.  Jack  began 
to  tell  him  about  the  land. 

"  Don't  say  anything  about  it  to  me,  nor  to  anybody 
else  but  your  lawyer,"  said  Mr.  Kane ;  "  and  do  not 
mention  my  name.  You  may  say  to  your  lawyer  that  the 
land  has  just  changed  hands,  and  the  matter  must  be  at- 
tended to  soon.  It  won't  stand  exposed  in  that  way  long." 

When  the  boys  were  in  the  boat  ready  to  start,  Mr. 
Kane  said  to  Bob  : 

"  You  wouldn't  mind  working  for  me  this  summer  at 
the  regular  price  ?  " 

"  I'd  like  to,"  said  Bob. 

"  How  soon  can  you  come  ?  " 

"  Next  Wednesday  evening." 

"  I'll  expect  you,"  said  the  Judge,  and  he  turned  away 
up  the  bank,  with  a  slight  nod  and  a  curt  "  Good-bye," 
while  Bob  said  :  "  What  a  curious  man  he  is  ! " 


THE   RETURN   HOME. 


I29 


"  Yes,  and  as  good  as  he's  curious,"  added  Jack. 

It  was  a  warm  day  for  rowing,  but  the  boys  were  both 
a  little  homesick.  Under  the  shelter  of  a  point  where 
the  current  was  not  too  strong  the  two  rowed  and  made 
fair  headway,  sometimes  encountering  an  eddy  which 
gave  them  a  lift.  But  whenever  the  current  set  strongly 
toward  their  side  of  the  river,  and  whenever  they  found 
it  necessary  to  round  a  point,  one  of  them  would  leap  out 
on  the  pebbly  beach  and,  throwing  the  boat-rope  over 
his  shoulder,  set  his  strength  against  the  stream.  The 
rope,  or  cordelle, — a  word  that  has  come  down  from  the 
first  French  travellers  and  traders  in  the  great  valley, — 
was  tied  to  the  row-locks.  It  was  necessary  for  one  to  steer 
in  the  stern  while  the  other  played  tow-horse,  so  that 
each  had  his  turn  at  rest  and  at  work.  After  three  hours' 
toil  the  wharf-boat  of  the  village  was  in  sight,  and  all 
sorts  of  familiar  objects  gladdened  their  hearts.  They 
reached  the  landing,  and  then,  laden  with  things,  they 
hurriedly  cut  across  the  commons  to  their  homes. 

As  soon  as  Jack's  first  greeting  with  his  mother  was 
over,  she  told  him  that  she  thought  she  might  afford  him 
one  more  quarter  of  school. 

"No,"  said  Jack,  "you've  pinched  yourself  long 
enough  for  me  ;  now  it's  time  I  should  go  to  work.  If 
you  try  to  squeeze  out  another  quarter  of  school  for  me 
you'll  have  to  suffer  for  it.  Besides,  I  don't  see  how  you 
can  do  it,  unless  Gray  comes  down,  and  I  think  I  have 


130  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

now  in  my  pocket  something  that  will  make  him  come 
down."  And  Jack's  face  brightened  at  the  thought  of 
the  slip  of  paper  in  the  pocket  of  his  roundabout. 

Without  observing  the  last  remark,  nor  the  evi- 
dent elation  of  Jack's  feelings,  Mrs.  Dudley  proceeded  to 
tell  him  that  she  had  been  offered  a  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  for  her  claim  against  Gray. 

"  Who  offered  it  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Mr.  Tinkham,  Gray's  agent.  May  be  Gray  is  buy- 
ing up  his  own  debts,  feeling  tired  of  holding  property  in 
somebody  else's  name." 

"  A  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  for  a  thousand  ! 
The  rascal !  I  wouldn't  take  it,"  broke  out  Jack,  impet- 
uously. 

"That's  just  the  way  I  feel,  Jack.  I'd  rather  wait 
forever,  if  it  wasn't  for  your  education.  I  can't  afford  to 
have  you  lose  that.  I'm  to  give  an  answer  this  evening." 

"We  won't  do  it,"  said  Jack.  "  I've  got  a  mem- 
orandum here,"  and  he  took  the  slip  of  paper  from  his 
pocket  and  unfolded  it,  "that'll  bring  more  money  out 
of  him  than  that.  I'm  going  to  see  Mr.  Beal  at  once." 

Mrs.  Dudley  looked  at  the  paper  without  understand- 
ing just  what  it  was,  and,  without  giving  her  any  further 
explanation,  but  only  a  warning  to  secrecy,  Jack  made 
off  to  the  lawyer's  office. 

"  Where  did  you  get  this  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Beal. 

"  I  promised  not  to  mention  his  name — I  mean  the 


THE   RETURN   HOME.  131 

name  of  the  one  who  gave  me  that.  I  went  to  the  clerk's 
office  with  the  description,  and  the  clerk  wrote  the  words 
'  Francis  Gray,  owner,  no  incumbrance.'  " 

"  I  wish  I  had  had  it  sooner,"  said  the  lawyer.  "  It 
will  be  best  to  have  our  judgment  recorded  in  that  county 
to-morrow,"  he  continued.  "  Could  you  go  down  to  Port 
William  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Jack,  a  little  reluctant  to  go  back. 
"  I  could  if  I  must." 

"  I  don't  think  the  mail  will  do,"  added  Mr.  Beal. 
"This  thing  came  just  in  time.  We  should  have  sold  the 
claim  to-night.  This  land  ought  to  fetch  five  hundred 
dollars." 

Mr.  Tinkham,  agent  for  Francis  Gray,  was  much  dis- 
appointed that  night  when  Mrs.  Dudley  refused  to  sell  her 
claim  against  Gray. 

"  You'll  never  get  anything  any  other  way,"  he  said. 

"  Perhaps  not,  but  we've  concluded  to  wait,"  said 
Mrs.  Dudley.  "  We  can't  do  much  worse  if  we  get 
nothing  at  all." 

After  a  moment's  reflection,  Mr.  Tinkham  said  : 

"  I'll  do  a  little  better  by  you,  Mrs.  Dudley.  I'll  give 
you  a  hundred  and  fifty.  That's  the  very  best  I  can  do." 

"  I  will  not  sell  the  claim  at  present,"  said  Mrs.  Dud- 
ley. "  It  is  of  no  use  to  offer." 

It  would  have  been  better  if  Mrs.  Dudley  had  not 
spoken  so  positively.  Mr.  Tinkham  was  set  a-thinking. 


132  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

Why  wouldn't  the  widow  sell  ?  Why  had  she  changed 
her  mind  since  yesterday  ?  Why  did  Mr.  Beal,  the  law- 
yer, not  appear  at  the  consultation?  •  All  these  questions 
the  shrewd  little  Tinkham  asked  himself,  and  all  these 
questions  he  asked  of  Francis  Gray  that  evening. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A   FOOT-RACE   FOR   MONEY. 

"  THEY'VE  got  wind  of  something,"  said  Mr.  Tinkham  to 
Mr.  Gray,  "  or  else  they  are  waiting  for  you  to  resume 
payment, — or  else  the  widow's  got  money  from  some- 
where for  her  present  necessities." 

"  I  don't  know  what  hope  they  can  have  of  getting 
money  out  of  me,"  said  Gray,  with  a  laugh.  "  I've  tan- 
gled everything  up,  so  that  Beai  can't  find  a  thing  to  levy 
on.  I  have  but  one  piece  of  property  exposed,  and 
that's  not  in  this  State." 

"  Where  is  it  ?  "  asked  Tinkham. 

"  It's  in  Kentucky,  five  miles  back  of  Port  William. 
I  took  it  last  week  in  a  trade,  and  I  haven't  yet  made  up 
my  mind  what  to  do  with  it." 

"  That's  the  very  thing,"  said  Tinkham,  with  his  little 
face  drawn  to  a  point, — "  the  very  thing.  Mrs.  Dud- 
ley's son  came  home  from  Port  William  yesterday,  where 
he  has  been  at  school.  They've  heard  of  that  land,  I'm 
afraid  ;  for  Mrs.  Dudley  is  very  positive  that  she  will  not 
sell  the  claim  at  any  price." 

"I'll  make   a   mortgage  to  my  brother  on  that  land, 


134  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

.and  send  it  off  from  the  mail-boat  as  I  go  down  to-mor- 
row," said  Gray. 

"  That'll  be  too  late,"  said  Tinkham.  "Beal  will  have 
his  judgment  recorded  as  soon  as  the  packet  gets  there. 
You'd  better  go  by  the  packet,  get  off,  and  see  the  mort- 
gage recorded  yourself,  and  then  take  the  mail-boat." 

To  this  Gray  agreed,  and  the  next  day,  when  Jack 
went  on  board  the  packet  "  Swiftsure,"  he  found  Mr. 
Francis  Gray  going  aboard  also.  Mr.  Beal  had  warned 
Jack  that  he  must  not  let  anybody  from  the  packet  get  to 
the  clerk's  office  ahead  of  him, — that  the  first  paper  de- 
posited for  record  would  take  the  land.  Jack  wondered 
why  Mr.  Francis  Gray  was  aboard  the  packet,  which 
went  no  farther  than  Madison,  while  Mr.  Gray's  home 
was  in  Louisville.  He  soon  guessed,  however,  that  Gray 
meant  to  land  at  Port  William,  and  so  to  head  him  off. 
Jack  looked  at  Mr.  Gray's  form,  made  plump  by  good 
feeding,  and  felt  safe.  He  couldn't  be  very  dangerous  in 
a  foot-race.  Jack  reflected  with  much  hopefulness  that  no 
boy  in  school  could  catch  him  in  a  straight-away  run 
when  he  was  fox.  He  would  certainly  leave  the  some- 
what puffy  Mr.  Francis  Gray  behind. 

But  in  the  hour's  run  down  the  river,  including  two 
landings  at  Minuit's  and  Craig's,  Jack  had  time  to  re- 
member that  Francis  Gray  was  a  cunning  man,  and 
might  head  him  off  by  some  trick  or  other.  A  vague 
fear  took  possession  of  him,  and  he  resolved  to  be  first 


A   FOOT-RACE  FOR   MONEY.  135 

off  the  boat  before  any  pretext  could  be  invented  to  stop 
him. 

Meantime,  Francis  Gray  had  looked  at  Jack's  lithe 
legs  with  apprehension.  "  I  can  never  beat  that  boy," 
he  had  reflected.  "  My  running  days  are  over."  Find- 
ing among  the  deck  .  passengers  a  young  fellow  who 
looked  as  though  he  needed  money,  Gray  approached 
him  with  this  question  : 

"  Do  you  belong  in  Port  William,  young  man  ?  " 

"  I  don't  belong  nowhere  else,  I  reckon,"  answered 
the  seedy  fellow,  with  shuffling  impudence. 

"  Do  you  know  where  the  county  clerk's  office  is?  " 
asked  Mr.  Gray. 

"  Yes,  and  the  market-house.  I  can  show  you  the  way 
to  the  jail,  too,  if  you  want  to  know  ;  but  I  s'pose  you've 
been  there  many  a  time,"  laughed  the  "  wharf  rat." 

Gray  was  irritated  at  this  rudeness,  but  he  swallowed 
his  anger. 

"  Would  you  like  to  make  five  dollars  ?  " 

"  Now  you're  talkin'  interestin'.  Why  didn't  you 
begin  at  that  eend  of  the  subjick  ?  I'd  like  to  make  five 
dollars  as  well  as  the  next  feller,  provided  it  isn't  to  be 
made  by  too  much  awful  hard  work." 

"  Can  you  run  well  ?  " 

"Ifthey's  money  at  t'other  eend  of  the  race  I  can 
run  like  sixty  fer  a  spell.  'Tain't  my  common  gait,  how- 
sumever." 


136  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

"  If  you'll  take  this  paper,"  said  Gray,  "  and  get  it  to 
the  county  clerk's  office  before  anybody  else  gets  there 
from  this  boat,  I'll  give  you  five  dollars." 

"  Honor  bright  ?  "  asked  the  chap,  taking  the  paper, 
drawing  a  long  breath,  and  looking  as  though  he  had  dis- 
covered a  gold  mine. 

"  Honor  bright,"  answered  Gray.  "You  must  jump 
off  first  of  all,  for  there's  a  boy  aboard  that  will  beat  you 
if  he  can.  No  pay  if  you  don't  win." 

"  Which  is  the  one  that'll  run  ag'in'  me  ?  "  asked  the 
long-legged  fellow. 

Gray  described  Jack,  and  told  the  young  man  to  go 
out  forward  and  he  would  see  him.  Gray  was  not  will- 
ing to  be  seen  with  the  "  wharf-rat,"  lest  suspicions 
should  be  awakened  in  Jack  Dudley's  mind.  But  after 
the  shabby  young  man  had  gone  forward  and  looked  at 
Jack,  he  came  back  with  a  doubtful  air. 

"  That's  Hoosier  Jack,  as  we  used  to  call  him,"  said 
the  shabby  young  man.  "  He  an'  two  more  used  to  row 
a  boat  acrost  the  river  every  day  to  go  to  ole  Niles's 
school.  He's  a  hard  one  to  beat, — they  say  he  used  to 
lay  the  whole  school  out  on  prisoners'  base,  and  that  he 
could  leave  'em  all  behind  on  fox." 

"  You  think  you  can't  do  it,  then  ?  "  asked  Gray. 

"  Gimme  a  little  start  and  I  reckon  I'll  fetch  it.  It's 
up-hill  part  of  the  way  and  he  may  lose  his  wind,  for  it's 
a  good  half-mile.  You  must  make  a  row  with  him  at  the 


A   FOOT-RACE   FOR   MONEY. 


'37 


gang-plank,  er  do  somethin'  to  kinder  hold  him  back. 
The  wind's  down  stream  to-day  and  the  boat's  shore  to 
swing  in  a  little  aft.  I'll  jump  for  it  and  you  keep  him 
back." 

To  this  Gray  assented. 

As  the  shabby  young  fellow  had  predicted,  the  boat 
did  swing  around  in  the  wind,  and  have  some  trouble  in 
bringing  her  bow  to  the  wharf-boat.  The  captain  stood 
on  the  hurricane-deck  calling  to  the  pilot  to  "  back  her," 
"stop  her,"  "  go  ahead  on  her,""  go  ahead  on  yer 
labberd,"  and  "  back  on  yer  stabberd."  Now,  just  as  the 
captain  was  backing  the  starboard  wheel  and  going  ahead 
on  his  larboard,  so  as  to  bring  the  boat  around  right, 
Mr.  Gray  turned  on  Jack. 

"  What  are  you  treading  on  my  toes  for,  you  im- 
pudent young  rascal  ?  "  he  broke  out. 

Jack  colored  and  was  about  to  reply  sharply,  when  he 
caught  sight  of  the  shabby  young  fellow,  who  just  then 
leaped  from  the  gunwale  of  the  boat  amidships  and 
barely  reached  the  wharf.  Jack  guessed  why  Gray  had 
tried  to  irritate  him, — he  saw  that  the  well-known 
"  wharf-rat  "  was  to  be  his  competitor.  But  what  could 
he  do  ?  The  wind  held  the  bow  of  the  boat  out,  the 
gang-plank  which  had  been  pushed  out  ready  to  reach 
the  wharf-boat  was  still  firmly  grasped  by  the  deck- 
hands, and  the  farther  end  of  it  was  six  feet  from  the 
wharf,  and  much  above  it.  It  would  be  some  minutes 


138  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

before  any  one  could  leave  the  boat  in  the  regular  way. 
There  was  only  one  chance  to  defeat  the  rascally  Gray. 
Jack  concluded  to  take  it. 

He  ran  out  upon  the  plank  amidst  the  harsh  cries  of 
the  deck-hands,  who  tried  to  stop  him,  and  the  oaths  of 
the  mate,  who  thundered  at  him,  with  the  stern  order  of 
the  captain  from  the  upper  deck,  who  called  out  to  him 
to  go  back. 

But,  luckily,  the  steady  pulling  ahead  of  the  lar- 
board engine,  and  the  backing  of  the  starboard,  began 
just  then  to  bring  the  boat  around,  the  plank  sank  down 
a  little  under  Jack's  weight,  and  Jack  made  the  leap  to 
the  wharf,  hearing  the  confused  cries,  orders,  oaths,  and 
shouts  from  behind  him,  as  he  pushed  through  the  crowd. 

"  Stop  that  thief!  "  cried  Francis  Gray  to  the  people 
on  the  wharf-boat,  but  in  vain.  Jack  glided  swiftly 
through  the  people,  and  got  on  shore  before  anybody 
could  check  him.  He  charged  up  the  hill  after  the 
shabby  young  fellow,  who  had  a  decided  lead,  while 
some  of  the  men  on  the  wharf-boat  pursued  them  both, 
uncertain  which  was  the  thief.  Such  another  pell-mell 
race  Port  William  had  never  seen.  Windows  flew  up 
and  heads  went  out.  Small  boys  joined  the  pursuing 
crowd,  and  dogs  barked  indiscriminately  and  uncertainly 
at  the  heels  of  everybody.  There  were  cries  of  "Hurrah 
for  long  Ben  !  "  and  "  Hurrah  for  Hoosier  Jack  !  "  Some 
of  Jack's  old  school-mates  essayed  to  stop  him  to  find  out 


A   FOOT-RACE   FOR   MONEY.  139 

what  it  was  all  about,  but  he  would  not  relax  a  muscle, 
and  he  had  no  time  to  answer  any  questions.  He  saw 
the  faces  of  the  people  dimly  ;  he  heard  the  crowd  crying 
after  him,  "Stop,  thief!"  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  his,, 
old  teacher,  Mr.  Niles,  regarding  him  with  curiosity  as  he 
darted  by  ;  he  saw  an  anxious  look  in  Judge  Kane's  face 
as  he  passed  him  on  a  street  corner.  But  Jack  held  his 
eyes  on  Long  Ben,  whom  he  pursued  as  a  dog  does  a 
fox.  He  had  steadily  gained  on  the  fellow,  but  Ben  had 
too  much  the  start,  and,  unless  he  should  give  out,  there 
would  be  little  chance  for  Jack  to  overtake  him.  One 
thinks  quickly  in  such  moments.  Jack  remembered  that 
there  were  two  ways  of  reaching  the  county  clerk's  office. 
To  keep  the  street  around  the  block  was  the  natural  way, 
• — to  take  an  alley  through  the  square  was  neither  longer 
nor  shorter.  But  by  running  down  the  alley  he  would 
deprive  Long  Ben  of  the  spur  of  seeing  his  pursuer,  and 
he  might  even  make  him  think  that  Jack  had  given  out. 
Jack  had  played  this  trick  when  playing  hound  and  fox, 
and  at  any  rate  he  would  by  this  turn  shake  off  the 
crowd.  So  into  the  alley  he  darted,  and  the  bewildered 
pursuers  kept  on  crying  "  stop  thief!"  after  Long  Ben, 
whose  reputation  was  none  of  the  best.  Somebody 
ahead  tried  to  catch  the  shabby  young  fellow,  and  this 
forced  Ben  to  make  a  slight  curve,  which  gave  Jack  the 
advantage,  so  that  just  as  Ben  neared  the  office,  Jack 
rounded  a  corner  out  of  an  alley,  and  entered  ahead  of 


I4O  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

him,  dashed  up  to  the  clerk's  desk  and  deposited  the 
judgment. 

"  For  record,"  he  gasped. 

The  next  instant  the  shabby  young  fellow  pushed 
forward  the  mortgage. 

"  Mine  first !  "  cried  Long  Ben. 

"  I'll  take  yours  when  I  get  this  entered,"  said  the 
clerk,  quietly,  as  became  a  public  officer. 

"  I  got  here  first,"  said  Long  Ben. 

But  the  clerk  looked  at  the  clock  and  entered  the  date 
on  the  back  of  Jack's  paper,  putting  "  one  o'clock  and 
eighteen  minutes  "  after  the  date.  Then  he  wrote  "  one 
o'clock  and  nineteen  minutes  "  on  the  paper  which  Long 
Ben  handed  him.  The  office  was  soon  crowded  with 
people  discussing  the  result  of  the  race,  and  a  part  of 
them  were  even  now  in  favor  of  seizing  one  or  the  other 
of  the  runners  for  a  theft,  which  some  said  had  been 
committed  on  the  packet,  and  others  declared  was  com- 
mitted on  the  wharf-boat.  Francis  Gray  came  in,  and 
could  not  conceal  his  chagrin. 

"  I  meant  to  do  the  fair  thing  by  you,"  he  said  to 
Jack,  severely,  "  but  now  you'll  never  get  a  cent  out  of 
me." 

"  I'd  rather  have  the  law  on  men  like  you,  than  have 
a  thousand  of  your  sort  of  fair  promises,"  said  Jack. 

"  I've  a  mind  to  strike  you,"  said  Gray. 

"The  Kentucky  law  is  hard  on  a  man  who  strikes  a 


A   FOOT-RACE   FOR   MONEY.  141 

minor,"  said  Judge  Kane,  who  had  entered  at  that 
moment. 

Mr.  Niles  came  in  to  learn  what  was  the  matter,  and 
Judge  Kane,  after  listening  quietly  to  the  talk  of  the 
people,  until  the  excitement  subsided,  took  Jack  over  to 
his  house,  whence  the  boy  trudged  home  in  the  late 
afternoon  full  of  hopefulness. 

Gray's  land  realized  as  much  as  Mr.  Beal  expected, 
and  Jack  studied  hard  all  summer,  so  as  to  get  as  far 
ahead  as  possible  by  the  time  school  should  begin  in  the 
autumn. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  NEW   TEACHER. 

THE  new  teacher  who  was  employed  to  take  the  Green- 
bank  school  in  the  autumn  was  a  young  man  from  col- 
lege. Standing  behind  the  desk  hitherto  occupied  by 
the  grim-faced  Mr.  Ball,  young  Williams  looked  very 
mild  by  contrast.  He  was  evidently  a  gentle-spirited 
man  as  compared  with  the  old  master,  and  King  Pewee 
and  his  crowd  were  gratified  in  noting  this  fact.  They 
could  have  their  own  way  with  such  a  master  as 
that !  When  he  called  the  school  to  order,  there  re- 
mained a  bustle  of  curiosity  and  mutual  recognition 
among  the  children.  Riley  and  Pewee  kept  up  a  little 
noise  by  way  of  defiance.  They  had  heard  that  the  new 
master  did  not  intend  to  whip.  Now  he  stood  quietly 
behind  his  desk,  and  waited  a  few  moments  in  silence  for 
the  whispering  group  to  be  still.  Then  he  slowly  raised 
and  levelled  his  finger  at  Riley  and  Pewee,  but  still  said 
nothing.  There  was  something  so  firm  and  quiet  about 
his  motion — something  that  said,  "  I  will  wait  all  day,  but 
you  must  be  still  " — that  the  boys  could  not  resist  it. 

By  the  time  they  were  quiet,  two  of  the  girls  had  got 


THE   NEW  TEACHER.  143 


into  a  titter  over  something,  and  the  forefinger  was  aimed 
at  them.  The  silent  man  made  the  pupils  understand 
that  he  was  not  to  be  trifled  with. 

When  at  length  there  was  quiet,  he  made  every  one 
lay  down  book  or  slate  and  face  around  toward  him. 
Then  with  his  pointing  finger,  or  with  a  little  slap  of  his" 
hands  together,  or  with  a  word  or  two  at  most,  he  got  the 
school  still  again. 

"  I  hope  we  shall  be  friends,"  he  said,  in  a  voice  full  of 
kindliness.  "  All  I  want  is  to — 

But  at  this  point  Riley  picked  up  his  slate  and  book, 
and  turned  away.  The  master  snapped  his  fingers,  but 
Riley  affected  not  to  hear  him. 

"That  young  man  will  put  down  his  slate."  The 
master  spoke  in  a  low  tone,  as  one  who  expected  to  be 
obeyed,  and  the  slate  was  reluctantly  put  upon  the 
desk. 

"  When  I  am  talking  to  you,  I  want  you  to  hear,"  he 
went  on,  very  quietly.  "  I  am  paid  to  teach  you.  One 
of  the  things  I  have  to  teach  you  is  good  manners. 
You,"  pointing  to  Riley,  "are  old  enough  to  know -bet- 
ter than  to  take  your  slate  when  your  teacher  is  speak- 
ing, but  perhaps  you  have  never  been  taught  what  are 
good  manners.  I'll  excuse  you  this  time.  Now,  you 
all  see  those  switches  hanging  here  behind  me.  I  did 
not  put  them  there.  I  do  not  say  that  I  shall  not  use 
them.  Some  boys  have  to  be  whipped,  I  suppose, — like 


144  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

mules, — and  when  I  have  tried,  I  may  find  that  I  cannot 
get  on  without  the  switches,  but  I  hope  not  to  have  to 
use  them." 

Here  Riley,  encouraged  by  the  master's  mildness  and 
irritated  by  the  rebuke  he  had  received,  began  to  make 
figures  on  his  slate. 

"  Bring  me  that  slate,"  said  the  teacher. 

Riley  was  happy  that  he  had  succeeded  in  starting  a 
row.  He  took  his  slate  and  his  arithmetic,  and  shuffled 
up  to  the  master  in  a  half-indolent,  half-insolent  way. 

"  Why  do  you  take  up  your  work  when  I  tell  you  not 
to  ?  "  asked  the  new  teacher. 

"  Because  I  didn't  want  to  waste  all  my  morning.  I 
wanted  to  do  my  sums." 

"You  are  a  remarkably  industrious  youth,  I  take  it." 
The  young  master  looked  Riley  over,  as  he  said  this, 
from  head  to  foot.  The  whole  school  smiled,  for  there 
was  no  lazier  boy  than  this  same  Riley.  "  I  suppose," 
the  teacher  continued,  "  that  you  are  the  best  scholar  in 
school — the  bright  and  shining  light  of  Greenbank." 

Here  there  was  a  general  titter  at  Riley. 

"  I  cannot  have  you  sit  away  down  at  the  other  end 
of  the  school-room  and  hide  your  excellent  example  from 
the  rest.  Stand  right  up  here  by  me  and  cipher,  that  all 
the  school  may  see  how  industrious  you  are." 

Riley  grew  very  red  in  the  face  and  pretended  to 
"  cipher,"  holding  his  book  in  his  hand. 


THE   NEW   TEACHER.  145 

"  Now,"  said  the  new  teacher,  "  I  have  but  just  one 
rule  for  this  school,  and  I  will  write  it  on  the  blackboard 
that  all  may  see  it." 

He  took  chalk  and  wrote  : 

DO  RIGHT. 

"  That  is  all.     Let  us  go  to  our  lessons." 

For  the  first  two  hours  "that  Riley  stood  on  the  floor 
he  pretended  to  enjoy  it.  But  when  recess  came  and 
went  and  Mr.  Williams  did  not  send  him  to  his  seat,  he 
began  to  shift  from  one  foot  to  the  other  and  from  his 
heels  to  his  toes,  and  to  change  his  slate  from  the  right 
hand  to  the  left.  His  class  was  called,  and  after  recita- 
tion he  was  sent  back  to  his  place.  He  stood  it  as  best 
he  could  until  the  noon  recess,  but  when,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  afternoon  session,  Mr.  Williams  again  called 
his  "  excellent  scholar"  and  set  him  up,  Riley  broke  down 
and  said  : 

"  I  think  you  might  let  me  go  now." 

"  Are  you  tired  ?  "  asked  the  cruel  Mr.  Williams. 
,       "Yes,  I  am,"  and  Riley  hung  his  head,  while  the  rest 
smiled. 

"  And  are  you  ready  to  do  what  the  good  order  of 
the  school  requires  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Very  well ;  you  can  go." 

The  chopfallen  Riley  went  back  to  his  seat,  convinced 
9 


146  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

that  it  would   not  do  to  rebel  against  the   new  teacher, 
even  if  he  did  not  use  the  beech  switches. 

But  Mr.  Williams  was  also  quick  to  detect  the  willing 
scholar.  He  gave  Jack  extra  help  on  his  Latin  after 
school  was  out,  and  Jack  grew  very  proud  of  the  teacher's 
affection  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CHASING    THE     FOX. 

ALL  the  boys  in  the  river  towns  thirty  years  ago — and 
therefore  the  boys  in  Greenbank,  also — took  a  great  in- 
terest in  the  steam-boats  which  plied  up  and  down  the 
Ohio.  Each  had.  his  favorite  boat,  and  boasted  of  her 
speed  and  excellence.  Every  one  of  them  envied  those 
happy  fellows  whose  lot  it  was  to  "  run  on  the  river"  as 
cabin-boys.  Boats  were  a  common  topic  of  conversation 
— their  build,  their  engines,  their  speed,  their  officers, 
their  mishaps,  and  all  the  incidents  of  their  history. 

So  it  was  that  from  the  love  of  steam-boats,  which 
burned  so  brightly  in  the  bosom  of  the  boy  who  lived  on 
the  banks  of  that  great  and  lovely  river,  there  grew  up  the 
peculiar  game  of  "boats'  names."  I  think  the  game  was 
started  at  Louisville  or  New  Albany,  where  the  falls  inter- 
rupt navigation,  and  where  many  boats  of  the  upper  and 
lower  rivers  are  assembled. 

One  day,  as  the  warm  air  of  Indian  summer  in  this 
mild  climate  made  itself  felt,  the  boys  assembled,  on  the 
evergreen  "blue-grass."  after  the  snack  at  the  noon  re- 
cess, to  play  boats'  names. 


148  THE  HOOSIER  SCHOOL-BOY. 

Through  Jack's  influence,  Columbus,  who  did  not  like 
to  play  with  the  ABC  boys,  was  allowed  to  take  the 
handkerchief  and  give  out  the  first  name.  All  the  rest 
stood  up  in  a  row  like  a  spelling-class,  while  little  Colum- 
bus, standing  in  front  of  them,  held  a  knotted  handker- 
chief with  which  to  scourge  them  when  the  name  should 
be  guessed.  The  arm  which  held  the  handkerchief  was 
so  puny  that  the  boys  laughed  to  see  the  feeble  lad  stand 
there  in  a  threatening  attitude. 

"  I  say,  Lum,  don't  hit  too  hard,  now ;  my  back  is 
tender,"  said  Bob  Holliday. 

"  Give  us  an  easy  one  to  guess,"  said  Riley,  coaxingly. 

Columbus,  having  come  from  the  back  country,  did 
not  know  the  names  of  half  a  dozen  boats,  and  what  he 
knew  about  were  those  which  touched  daily  at  the  wharf 
of  Greenbank. 

"  F n,"  he  said. 

"Fashion,"  cried  all  the  boys  at  once,  breaking  into 
unrestrained  mirth  at  the  simplicity  that  gave  them  the 
name  of  Captain  Glenn's  little  Cincinnati  and  Port  William 
packet,  which  landed  daily  at  the  village  wharf.  Colum- 
bus now  made  a  dash  at  the  boys,  who  were  obliged  to 
run  to  the  school-house  and  back  whenever  a  name  was 
guessed,  suffering  a  beating  all  the  way  from  the  handker- 
chief of  the  one  who  had  given  out  the  name,  though,  in- 
deed, the  punishment  Lum  was  able  to  give  was  very 
slight.  It  was  doubtful  who  had  guessed  first,  since  the 


CHASING  THE   FOX.  149 


whole  party  had  cried  "  Fashion  "  almost  together,  but  it 
was  settled  at  last  in  favor  of  Harry  Weathervane,  who 
was  sure  to  give  out  hard  names,  since  he  had  been  to 
Cincinnati  recently,  and  had  gone  along  the  levee  reading 
the  names  of  those  boats  that  did  business  above  that  city, 
and  so  were  quite  unknown,  unless  by  report,  to  the  boys 
of  Greenbank. 

"  A A s,"  were  the  three  letters  which  Harry 

gave,  and  Ben  Berry  guessed  "  Archibald  Ananias,"  and 
Tom  Holcroft  said  it  was  "  Amanda  Amos,"  and  at  last 
all  gave  it  up  ;  whereupon  Harry  told  them  it  was  "  Alvin 
Adams,"  and  proceeded  to  give  out  another. 

"  C A P x,"  he  said  next  time. 

"  Caps,"  said  Riley,  mistaking  the  x  for  an  s  ;  and 
then  Bob  Holliday  suggested  "  Hats  and  Caps,"  and  Jack 
wanted  to  have  it  "  Boots  and  Shoes."  But  Johnny  Me- 
line  remembered  that  he  had  read  of  such  a  name  for  a 
ship  in  his  Sunday-school  lesson  of  the  previous  Sunday, 
and  he  guessed  that  a  steam-boat  might  bear  that  same. 

"  I  know,"  said  Johnny,  "  it's  Castor — 

"  Oil,"  suggested  Jack. 

«  No — Castor  and  P,  x, — Pollux — Castor  and  Pollux- 
it's  a  Bible  name." 

"  You're  not  giving  us  the  name  of  Noah's  ark,  are 
you  ?  "  asked  Bob. 

"  I  say,  boys,  that  isn't  fair  a  bit,"  growled  Pewee,  in 
all  earnestness.  "  I  don't  hardly  believe  that  Bible  ship's 


I5O  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

a-going  now."  Things  were  mixed  in  Pewee's  mind,  but 
he  had  a  vague  notion  that  Bible  times  were  as  much  as 
fifty  years  ago.  While  he  stood  doubting,  Harry  began 
to  whip  him  with  the  handkerchief,  saying,  "  I  saw  her  at 
Cincinnati,  last  week.  She  runs  to  Maysville  and  Par- 
kersburg,  you  goose." 

After  many  names  had  been  guessed,  and  each 
guesser  had  taken  his  turn,  Ben  Berry  had  to  give  out. 
He  had  just  heard  the  name  of  a  "  lower  country  "  boat, 
and  was  sure  that  it  would  not  be  guessed. 

"  C p r,"  he  said. 

"  Oh,  I  know,"  said  Jack,  who  had  been  studying 
the  steam-boat  column  of  an  old  Louisville  paper  that 
very  morning,  "  it's  the — the — "  and  he  put  his  hands 
over  his  ears,  closed  his  eyes,  and  danced  around,  try- 
ing to  remember,  while  all  the  rest  stood  and  laughed  at 
his  antics.  "  Now  I've  got  it, — the  '  Cornplanter  '  !  " 

And  Ben  Berry  whipped  the  boys  across  the  road  and 
back,  after  which  Jack  took  the  handkerchief. 

"  Oh,  say,  boys,  this  is  a  poor  game  ;  let's  play  fox," 
Bob  suggested.  "Jack's  got  the  handkerchief,  let  him 
be  the  first  fox." 

So  Jack  took  a  hundred  yards'  start,  and  all  the  boys 
set  out  after  him.  The  fox  led  the  hounds  across  the  com- 
mons, over  the  bars,  past  the  "  brick  pond,"  as  it  was 
called,  up  the  lane  into  Moro's  pasture,  along  the  hill- 
side to  the  west  across  Dater's  fence  into  Betts's  pasture ; 


CHASING  THE   FOX.  151 

thence  over  into  the  large  woods  pasture  of  the  Glade 
farm.  In  every  successive  field  some  of  the  hounds  had 
run  off  to  the  flank,  and  by  this  means  every  attempt  of 
Jack's  to  turn  toward  the  river,  and  thus  fetch  a  circuit 
for  home,  had  been  foiled.  They  had  cut  him  off  from 
turning  through  Moro's  orchard  or  Betts's  vineyard,  and 
so  there  was  nothing  for  the  fleet-footed  fox  but  to  keep 
steadily  to  the  west  and  give  his  pursuers  no  chance  to 
make  a  cut-off  on  him.  But  every  now  and  then  he 
made  a  feint  of  turning,  which  threw  the  others  out  of  a 
straight  track.  Once  in  the  woods  pasture,  Jack  found 
himself  out  of  breath,  having  run  steadily  for  a  rough 
mile  and  a  half,  part  of  it  up-hill.  He  was  yet  forty 
yards  ahead  of  Bob  Holliday  and  Riley,  who  led  the 
hounds.  Dashing  into  a  narrow  path  through  the  under- 
brush, Jack  ran  into  a  little  clump  of  bushes  and  hid  be- 
hind a  large  black-walnut  log. 

Riley  and  Holliday  came  within  six  feet  of  him,  some 
of  the  others  passed  to  the  south  of  him  and  some  to 
the  north,  but  all  failed  to  discover  his  lurking-place. 
Soon  Jack  could  hear  them  beating  about  the  bushes  be- 
yond him. 

This  was  his  time.  Having  recovered  his  wind,  he 
crept  out  southward  until  he  came  to  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
and  entered  Glade's  lane,  heading  straight  for  the  river 
across  the  wide  plain.  Pewee,  who  had  perched  himself 
on  a  fence  to  rest,  caught  sight  of  Jack  first,  and  soon 


152  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

the  whole  pack  were  in  full  cry  after  him,  down  the  long, 
narrow  elder-bordered  lane.  Bob  Holliday  and  Riley, 
the  fleetest  of  foot,  climbed  over  the  high  stake-and- 
rider  fence  into  Betts's  corn-field,  and  cut  off  a  diagonal 
to  prevent  Jack's  getting  back  toward  the  school-house. 
Seeing  this  movement,  Jack,  who  already  had  made  an 
extraordinary  run,  crossed  the  fence  himself,  and  tried  to 
make  a  cut-off  in  spite  of  them  ;  but  Riley  already  had 
got  in  ahead  of  him,  and  Jack,  seeing  the  boys  close  be- 
hind and  before  him,  turned  north  again  toward  the  hill, 
got  back  into  the  lane,  which  was  now  deserted,  and 
climbed  into  Glade's  meadow  on  the  west  side  of  the 
lane.  He  now  had  a  chance  to  fetch  a  sweep  around 
toward  the  river  again,  though  the  whole  troop  of  boys 
were  between  him  and  the  school-house.  Fairly  headed 
off  on  the  east,  he  made  a  straight  run  south  for  the 
river  shore,  striking  into  a  deep  gully,  from  which  he 
came  out  panting  upon  the  beach,  where  he  had  just 
time  to  hide  himself  in  a  hollow  sycamore,  hoping  that 
the  boys  would  get  to  the  westward  and  give  him  a 
chance  to  run  up  the  river  shore  for  the  school-house. 

But  one  cannot  play  the  same  trick  twice.  Some  of 
the  boys  stationed  themselves  so  as  to  intercept  Jack's 
retreat  toward  the  school-house,  while  the  rest  searched 
for  him,  beating  up  and  down  the  gully,  and  up  and 
down  the  beach,  until  they  neared  the  hollow  sycamore. 
Jack  made  a  sharp  dash  to  get  through  them,  but  was 


CHASING   THE   FOX.  153 


headed  off  and  caught  by  Pevvee.  Just  as  Jack  was 
caught,  and  Pewee  was  about  to  start  homeward  as  fox, 
the  boys  caught  sight  of  two  steam-boats  racing  down  the 
river.  The  whole  party  was  soon  perched  on  a  fallen 
sycamore,  watching  first  the  "Swiftsure"  and  then  the 
"  Ben  Franklin,"  while  the  black  smoke  poured  from 
their  chimneys.  So  fascinated  were  they  with  this  ex- 
citing contest  that  they  stayed  half  an  hour  waiting  to  see 
which  should  beat.  At  length,  as  the  boats  passed  out 
of  sight,  with  the  "  Swiftsure  "  leading  her  competitor,  it 
suddenly  occurred  to  Jack  that  it  must  be  later  than  the 
school-hour.  The  boys  looked  aghast  at  one  another  a 
moment  on  hearing  him  mention  this  :  then  they  glanced 
at  the  sun,  already  declining  in  the  sky,  and  set  out  for 
school,  trotting  swiftly  in  spite  of  their  fatigue. 

What  would  the  master  say?  Pewee  said  he  didn't 
care, — it  wasn't  Old  Ball,  and  they  wouldn't  get  a  whip- 
ping, anyway.  But  Jack  thought  that  it  was  too  bad  to 
lose  the  confidence  of  Mr.  Williams. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CALLED   TO   ACCOUNT. 

SUCCESSFUL  hounds,  having  caught  their  fox,  ought  to 
have  come  home  in  triumph  ;  but,  instead  of  that,  they 
came  home  like  dogs  that  had  been  killing  sheep,  their 
heads  hanging  down  in  a  guilty  and  self-betraying  way. 

Jack  walked  into  the  school-house  first.  It  was  an 
hour  and  a  half  past  the  time  for  the  beginning  of  school. 
He  tried  to  look  unconcerned  as  he  went  to  his  seat. 
There  stood  the  teacher,  with  his  face  very  calm  but  very 
pale,  and  Jack  felt  his  heart  sink. 

One  by  one  the  laggards  filed  into  the  school-room, 
while  the  awe-stricken  girls  on  the  opposite  benches,  and 
the  little  ABC  boys,  watched  the  guilty  sinners  take 
their  places,  prepared  to  meet  their  fate. 

Riley  came  in  with  a  half-insolent  smile  on  his  face,  as 
if  to  say:  "  I  don't  care."  Pewee  was  sullen  and  bull- 
doggish.  Ben  Berry  looked  the  sneaking  fellow  he  was, 
and  Harry  Weathervane  tried  to  remember  that  his 
father  was  a  school-trustee.  Bob  Holliday  couldn't  help 
laughing  in  a  foolish  way.  Columbus  had  fallen  out  of 
the  race  before  he  got  to  the  "brick-pond,"  and  so  had 


CALLED   TO   ACCOUNT.  155 

returned  in  time  to  be  punctual  when  school  resumed  its 
session. 

During  all  the  time  that  the  boys,  heated  with  their 
exercise  and  blushing  with  shame,  were  filing  in,  Mr. 
Williams  stood  with  set  face  and  regarded  them.  He 
was  very  much  excited,  and  so  I  suppose  did  not  dare  to 
reprove  them  just  then.  He  called  the  classes  and  heard 
them  in  rapid  succession,  until  it  was  time  for  the  spell- 
ing-class, which  comprised  all  but  the  very  youngest 
pupils.  On  this  day,  instead  of  calling  the  spelling-class, 
he  said,  evidently  with  great  effort  to  control  himself: 
"  The  girls  will  keep  their  seats.  The  boys  v/ill  take 
their  places  in  the  spelling-class." 

Riley's  lower  jaw  fell — he  was  sure  that  the  master 
meant  to  flog  them  all.  He  was  glad  he  was  not  at 
the  head  of  the  class.  Ben  Berry  could  hardly  drag  his 
feet  to  his  place,  and  poor  Jack  was  filled  with  confusion. 
When  the  boys  were  all  in  place,  the  master  walked  up 
and  down  the  line  and  scrutinized  them,  while  Riley  cast 
furtive  glances  at  the  dusty  old  beech  switches  on  the 
wall,  wondering  which  one  the  master  would  use,  and 
Pewee  was  trying  to  guess  whether  Mr.  Williams's  arm 
was  strong,  and  whether  he  "would  make  a  fellow  take 
off  his  coat  "  or  not. 

"  Columbus,"  said  the  teacher,  "  you  can  take  your 
seat." 

Riley  shook  in  his  shoes,  thinking  that  this  certainly 


1 56  THE  HOOSIER  SCHOOL-BOY, 

meant  a  whipping.  He  began  to  frame  excuses  in  his 
mind,  by  which  to  try  to  lighten  his  punishment. 

But  the  master  did  not  take  down  his  switches.  He 
only  talked.  But  such  a  talk  !  He  told  the  boys  how 
worthless  a  man  was  who  could  not  be  trusted,  and  how 
he  had  hoped  for  a  school  full  of  boys  that  could  be 
relied  on.  He  thought  there  were  some  boys,  at  least — 
and  this  remark  struck  Jack  to  the  heart— that  there  were 
some  boys  in  the  school  who  would  rather  be  treated  as 
gentlemen  than  beaten  with  ox-gads.  But  he  was  now 
disappointed.  All  of  them  seemed  equally  willing  to 
take  advantage  of  his  desire  to  avoid  whipping  them  ; 
and  all  of  them  had  shown  themselves  unfit  to  be  trusted. 

Here  he^paused  long  enough  to  let  the  full  weight 
of  his  censure  enter  their  minds.  Then  he  began  on  a 
new  tack.  He  had  hoped  that  he  might  have  their 
friendship.  He  had  thought  that  they  cared  a  little  for 
his  good  opinion.  But  now  they  had  betrayed  him. 
All  the  town  was  looking  to  see  whether  he  would 
succeed"  in  conducting  his  school  without  whipping.  A 
good  many  would  be  glad  to  see  him  fail.  To-day  they 
would  be  saying  all  over  Greenbank  that  the  new  teacher 
couldn't  manage  his  school.  Then  he  told  the  boys  that 
while  they  were  sitting  on  the  trunk  of  the  fallen 
sycamore  looking  at  the  steam-boat  race,  one  of  the 
trustees,  Mr.  Weathervane,  had  driven  past  and  had  seen 
them  there.  He  had  stopped  to  complain  to  the  master. 


CALLED   TO   ACCOUNT.  157 

"  Now,"  said  the  master,  "  I  have  found  how  little  you 
care  for  me." 

This  was  very  sharp  talk,  and  it  made  the  boys  angry. 
Particularly  did  Jack  resent  any  intimation  that  he  was 
not  to  be  trusted.  But  the  new  master  was  excited  and 
naturally  spoke  severely.  Nor  did  he  give  the  boys  a 
chance  to  explain  at  that  time. 

"You  have  been  out  of  school,"  he  said,  "one  hour 
and  thirty-one  minutes.  That  is  about  equal  to  six 
fifteen-minute  recesses — to  the  morning  and  afternoon 
recesses  for  three  days.  I  shall  have  to  keep  you  in  at 
those  six  recesses  to  make  up  the  time,  and  in  addition, 
as  a  punishment,  I  shall  keep  you  in  school  half  an  hour 
after  the  usual  time  of  dismission,  for  three  days." 

Here  Jack  made  a  motion  to  speak. 

"  No,"  said  the  master,  "  I  will  not  hear  a  word, 
now.  Go  home  and  think  it  over.  To-morrow  I  mean 
to  ask  each  one  of  you  to  explain  his  conduct." 

With  this,  he  dismissed  the  school,  and  the  boys  went 
out  as  angry  as  a  hive  of  bees  that  have  been  disturbed. 
Each  one  made  his  speech.  Jack  thought  it  "  mean  that 
the  master  should  say  they  were  not  fit  to  be  trusted. 
He  wouldn't  have  stayed  out  if  he'd  known  it  was  school- 
time." 

Bob  Holliday  said  "the  young  master  was  a  blis- 
terer,"  and  then  he  laughed  good-naturedly. 

Harry  Weathervane  was  angry,  and  so  were  all  the 


158  THE    HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

rest.  At  length  it  was  agreed  that  they  didn't  want  to 
be  cross-questioned  about  it,  and  that  it  was  better  that 
somebody  should  write  something  that  should  give  Mr. 
Williams  a  piece  of  their  mind,  and  show  him  how  hard 
he  was  on  boys  that  didn't  mean  any  harm,  but  only 
forgot  themselves.  And  Jack  was  selected  to  do  the 
writing. 

Jack  made  up  his  mind  that  the  paper  he  would  write 
should  be  "  a  scorcher." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AN    APOLOGY. 

OF  course,  there  was  a  great  deal  of  talk  in  the  village. 
The  I-told-you-so  people  were  quite  delighted.  Old 
Mother  Horn  "  always  knew  that  boys  couldn't  be 
managed  without  switching.  Didn't  the  Bible  or  some- 
body say  :  '  Just  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  boy's  inclined  ?  ' 
And  if  you  don't  bend  your  twig,  what'll  become  of 
your  boy  ?  " 

The  loafers  and  loungers  and  gad-abouts  and  gossips 
talked  a  great  deal  about  the  failure  of  the  new  plan. 
They  were  sure  that  Mr.  Ball  would  be  back  in  that 
school-house  before  the  term  was  out,  unless  Williams 
should  whip  a  good  deal  more  than  he  promised  to. 
The  boys  would  just  drive  him  out. 

Jack  told  his  mother,  with  a  grieved  face,  how  harsh 
the  new  master  had  been,  and  how  he  had  even  said  they 
were  not  fit  to  be  trusted. 

"That  a  very  harsh  word,"  said  Mrs.  Dudley,  "but 
let  us  make  some  allowances.  Mr.  Williams  is  on  trial 
before  the  town,  and  he  finds  himself  nearly  ruined  by 
the  thoughtlessness  of  the  boys.  He  had  to  wait  an  hour 


160  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

and  a  half  with  half  of  the  school  gone.  Think  how 
much  he  must  have  suffered  in  that  time.  And  then,  to 
have  to  take  a  rebuke  from  Mr.  Weathervane  besides, 
must  have  stung  him  to  the  quick." 

.  "Yes,  that's  so,"  said  Jack,  "but  then  he  had  no 
business  to  take  it  for  granted  that  we  did  it  on  pur- 
pose." 

And  Jack  went  about  his  chores,  trying  to  think  of 
some  way  of  writing  to  the  master  an  address  which 
should  be  severe,  but  not  too  severe.  He  planned  many 
things  but  gave  them  up.  He  lay  awake  in  the  night 
thinking  about  it,  and,  at  last,  when  he  had  cooled  off, 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that,  as  the  boys  had  been  the 
first  offenders,  they  should  take  the  first  step  toward  a 
reconciliation.  But  whether  he  could  persuade  the  angry 
boys  to  see  it  in  that  light,  he  did  not  know. 

When  morning  came,  he  wrote  a  very  short  paper, 
somewhat  in  this  fashion  : 

"  MR.  WILLIAMS. 

"Dear  Sir :  We  are  very  sorry  for  what  we  did  yesterday,  and  for  the 
trouble  we  have  given  you.  We  are  willing  to  take  the  punishment,  for  we 
think  we  deserve  it ;  but  we  hope  you  will  not  think  that  we  did  it  on  pur- 
pose, for  we  did  not,  and  we  don't  like  to  have  you  think  so. 

"  Respectfully  submitted." 

Jack  carried  this  in  the  first  place  to  his  faithful  friend 
Bob  Holliday,  who  read  it. 

"  Oh,  you've  come  down,  have  you  ?  "  said  Bob. 


AN   APOLOGY.. 


"  I  thought  we  ought  to,"  said  Jack.  "  We  did  give 
him  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  if  it  had  been  Mr.  Ball, 
he  would  have  whipped  us  half  to  death." 

"  We  shouldn't  have  forgot  and  gone  away  at  that 
time  if  Old  Ball  had  been  the  master,"  said  Bob. 

"  That's  just  it,"  said  Jack  ;  "  that's  the  very  reason 
why  we  ought  to  apologize." 

"  All  right,"  said  Bob,  "  I'll  sign  her,"  and  he  wrote 
"  Robert  M.  Holliday  "  in  big  letters  at  the  top  of  the 
column  intended  for  the  names.  Jack  put  his  name 
under  Bob's. 

But  when  they  got  to  the  school-house  it  was  not  so 
easy  to  persuade  the  rest.  At  length,  however,  Johnny 
Meline  signed  it,  and  then  Harry  Weathervane,  and 
then  the  rest,  one  after  another,  with  some  grumbling, 
wrote  their  names.  All  subscribed  to  it  excepting  Pewee 
and  Ben  Berry  and  Riley.  They  declared  they  never 
would  sign  it.  They  didn't  want  to  be  kept  in  at  recess 
and  after  school  like  convicts.  They  didn't  deserve  it. 

"Jack  is  a  soft-headed  fool,"  Riley  said,  "to  draw 
up  such  a  thing  as  that.  I'm  not  afraid  of  the  master. 
I'm  not  going  to  knuckle  down  to  him,  either." 

Of  course,  Pewee,  as  a  faithful  echo,  said  just  what 
Riley  said,  and  Ben  Berry  said  what  Riley  and  Pewee 
said  ;  so  that  the  three  were  quite  unanimous. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  then  we'll  have  to  hand  in  our 
petition  without  the  signatures  of  the  triplets." 


l62  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

"Don't  you  call  me  a  triplet,"  said  Pewee  ;  "I've 
got  as  much  sense  as  any  of  you.  You're  a  soft-headed 
triplet  yourself!  " 

Even  Riley  had  to  join  in  the  laugh  that  followed 
this  blundering  sally  of  Pewee. 

When  the  master  came  in,  he  seemed  very  much 
troubled.  He  had  heard  what  had  been  said  about  the 
affair  in  the  town.  The  address  which  Jack  had  written 
was  lying  on  his  desk.  He  took  it  up  and  read  it,  and 
immediately  a  look  of  pleasure  and  relief  took  the  place 
of  the  worried  look  he  had  brought  to  school  with  him. 

"Boys,"  he  said,  "  I  have  received  your  petition,  and 
I  shall  answer  it  by  and  by." 

The  hour  for  recess  came  and  passed.  The  girls  and 
the  very  little  boys  were  allowed  their  recess,  but 
nothing  was  said  to  the  larger  boys  about  their  going 
out.  Pewee  and  Riley  were  defiant. 

At  length,  when  the  school  was  about  to  break  up  for 
noon,  the  master  put  his  pen,  ink,  and  other  little  articles 
in  the  desk,  and  the  school  grew  hushed  with  expect- 
ancy. 

"This  apology,"  said  Mr.  Williams,  "which  I  see  is 
in  John  Dudley's  handwriting,  and  which  bears  the  sig- 
nature of  all  but  three  of  those  who  were  guilty  of  the 
offence  yesterday,  is  a  very  manly  apology,  and  quite  in- 
creases my  respect  for  those  who  have  signed  it.  I  have 
suffered  much  from  your  carelessness  of  yesterday,  but 


AN   APOLOGY.  163 


this  apology,  showing,  as  it  does,  the  manliness  of  my 
boys,  has  given  me  more  pleasure  than  the  offence  gave 
me  pain.  I  ought  to  make  an  apology  to  you.  I 
blamed  you  too  severely  yesterday  in  accusing  you  of 
running  away  intentionally.  I  take  all  that  back." 

Here  he  paused  a  moment,  and  looked  over  the  peti- 
tion carefully. 

"  William  Riley,  I  don't  see  your  name  here.  Why 
is  that  ?  " 

"  Because  I  didn't  put  it  there." 

Pewee  and  Ben  Berry  both  laughed  at  this  wit. 

"  Why  didn't  you  put  it  there  ?  " 

"  Because  I  didn't  want  to." 

"  Have  you  any  explanation  to  give  of  your  conduct 
yesterday  ?  " 

•'  No,  sir  ;  only  that  I  think  it's  mean  to  keep  us  in 
because  we  forgot  ourselves." 

"  Peter  Rose,  have  you  anything  to  say  ?  " 

"  Just  the  same  as  Will  Riley  said." 

"  And  you,  Benjamin  ?  " 

"Oh,  I  don't  care  much,"  said  Ben  Berry.  "Jack 
was  fox,  and  I  ran  after  him,  and  if  he  hadn't  run  all  over 
creation  and  part  of  Columbia,  I  shouldn't  have  been 
late.  It  isn't  any  fault  of  mine.  I  think  Jack  ought  to 
do  the  staying  in." 

"  You  are  about  as  old  a  boy  as  Jack,"  said  the  mas- 
ter. "I  suppose  Jack  might  say  that  if  you  and  the 


164  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

others  hadn't  chased  him,  he  wouldn't  have  run  '  all  over 
creation,'  as  you  put  it.  You  and  the  rest  were  all  guilty 
of  a  piece  of  gross  thoughtlessness.  All  excepting  you 
three  have  apologized  in  the  most  manly  way.  I  there- 
fore remove  the  punishment  from  all  the  others  entirely 
hereafter,  deeming  that  the  loss  of  this  morning's  recess 
is  punishment  enough  for  boys  who  can  be  so  manly  in 
their  acknowledgments.  Peter  Rose,  William  Riley,  and 
Benjamin  Berry  will  remain  in  school  at  both  recesses 
and  for  a  half-hour  after  school  every  day  for  three  days 
— not  only  for  having  forgotten  their  duty,  but  for  hav- 
ing refused  to  make  acknowledgment  or  apology." 

Going  home  that  evening,  half  an  hour  after  all  the 
others  had  been  dismissed,  the  triplets  put  all  their  griefs 
together,  and  resolved  to  be  avenged  on  Mr.  Williams  at 
the  first  convenient  opportunity. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

KING'S    BASE   AND.  A   SPELLING-LESSON. 

As  the  three  who  usually  gave  the  most  trouble  on  the 
play-ground,  as  well  as  in  school,  were  now  in  detention 
at  every  recess,  the  boys  enjoyed  greatly  their  play  dur- 
ing these  three  days. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  they  began  to  play  that  favor- 
ite game  of  Greenbank,  which  seems  to  be  unknown  al- 
most everywhere  else.  It  is  called  "  king's  base,"  and 
is  full  of  all  manner  of  complex  happenings,  sudden  sur- 
prises, and  amusing  results. 

Each  of  the  boys  selected  a  base  or  goal.  A  row  of 
sidewalk  trees  were  favorite  bases.  There  were  just  as 
many  bases  as  boys.  Some  boy  would  venture  out  from 
his  base.  Then  another  would  pursue  him  ;  a  third 
would  chase  the  two,  and  so  it  would  go,  the  one  who 
left  his  base  latest  having  the  right  to  catch. 

Just  as  Johnny  Meline  was  about  to  lay  hold  on  Jack, 
Sam  Crashaw,  having  just  left  his  base,  gave  chase  to 
Johnny,  and  just  as  Sam  thought  he  had  a  good  chance 
to  catch  Johnny,  up  came  Jack,  fresh  from  having 
touched  his  base,  and  nabbed  Sam.  When  one  has 


1 66  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

caught  another,  he  has  a  right  to  return  to  his  base  with 
his  prisoner,  unmolested.  The  prisoner  now  becomes  an 
active  champion  of  the  new  base,  and  so  the  game  goes 
on  until  all  the  bases  are  broken  up  but  one.  Very  often 
the  last  boy  on  a  base  succeeds  in  breaking  up  a  strong 
one,  and,  indeed,  there  is  no  end  to  the  curious  results 
attained  in  the  play. 

Jack  had  never  got  on  in  his  studies  as  at  this  time. 
Mr.  Williams  took  every  opportunity  to  show  his  liking 
for  his  young  friend,  and  Jack's  quickened  ambition  soon 
put  him  at  the  head  of  his  classes.  It  was  a  rule  that  the 
one  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  great  spelling-class  on 
Friday  evenings  should  go  to  the  foot  on  Monday,  and 
so  work  his  way  up  again.  There  was  a  great  strife  be- 
tween Sarah  Weathervane  and  Jack  to  see  which  should 
go  to  the  foot  the  oftenest  during  the  term,  and  so  win 
a  little  prize  that  Mr.  Williams  had  offered  to  the  best 
speller  in  the  school.  As  neither  of  them  ever  missed  a 
word  in  the  lesson,  they  held  the  head  each  alternate  Fri- 
day evening.  In  this  way  the  contest  bade  fair  to  be  a 
tie.  But  Sarah  meant  to  win  the  prize  by  fair  means  or 
foul. 

One  Friday  morning  before  school-time,  the  boys  and 
girls  were  talking  about  the  relative  merits  of  the  two 
spellers,  Joanna  maintaining  that  Sarah  was  the  better, 
and  others  that  Jack  could  spell  better  than  Sarah. 

"Oh!"  said  Sarah   Weathervane,  "  Jack  is  the  best 


KING'S   BASE  AND   A   SPELLING-LESSON.  167 

speller  in  school.  I  study  till  my  head  aches  to  get  my 
lesson,  but  it  is  all  the  same  to  Jack  whether  he  studies 
or  not.  He  has  a  natural  gift  for  spelling,  and  he  spends 
nearly  all  his  time  on  arithmetic  and  Latin." 

This  speech  pleased  Jack  very  much.  He  had  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  class  all  the  week,  and  spelling  did 
seem  to  him  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world.  That  after- 
noon he  hardly  looked  at  his  lesson.  It  was  so  nice  to 
think  he  could  beat  Sarah  Weathervane  with  his  left 
hand,  so  to  speak. 

When  the  great  spelling-class  was  called,  he  spelled 
the  words  given  to  him,  as  usual,  and  Sarah  saw  no 
chance  to  get  the  coveted  opportunity  to  stand  at  the 
head,  go  down,  and  spell  her  way  up  again.  But  the 
very  last  word  given  to  Jack  was  sacrilege,  and,  not  hav- 
ing studied  the  lesson,  he  spelled  it  with  e  in  the  second 
syllable  and  i  in  the  last.  Sarah  gave  the  letters  cor- 
rectly, and  when  Jack  saw  the  smile  of  triumph  on  her 
face,  he  guessed  why  she  had  flattered  him  that  morning. 
Hereafter  he  would  not  depend  on  his  natural  genius  for 
spelling.  A  natural  genius  for  working  is  the  best  gift. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

UNCLAIMED  TOP-STRINGS. 

WITH  a  sinking  heart,  Jack  often  called  to  mind  that  this 
was  his  last  term  at  school.  The  little  money  that  his  fa- 
ther had  left  was  not  enough  to  warrant  his  continuing  ; 
he  must  now  do  something  for  his  own  support.  He 
resolved,  therefore,  to  make  the  most  of  his  time  under 
Mr.  Williams. 

When  Pewee,  Riley,  and  Ben  Berry  got  through  with 
their  punishment,  they  sought  some  way  of  revenging 
themselves  on  the  master  for  punishing  them,  and  on 
Jack  for  doing  better  than  they  had  done,  and  thus  es- 
caping punishment.  It  was  a  sore  thing  with  them  that 
Jack  had  led  all  the  school  his  way,  so  that,  instead  of 
the  whole  herd  following  King  Pewee  and  Prime  Minis- 
ter Riley  into  rebellion,  they  now  "  knuckled  down  to 
the  master,"  as  Riley  called  it,  under  the  lead  of  Jack, 
and  they  even  dared  to  laugh  slyly  at  the  inseparable 
"  triplets.' 

The  first  aim  of  Pewee  and  company  was  to  get  the 
better  of  the  master.  They  boasted  to  Jack  and  Bob  that 
they  would  fix  Mr.  Williams  some  time,  and  gave  out  to 


UNCLAIMED   TOP-STRINGS.  169 

the  other  boys  that  they  knew  where  the  master  spent  his 
evenings,  and  they  knew  how  to  fix  him. 

When  Jack  heard  of  this,  he  understood  it.  The 
teacher  had  a  habit  of  spending  an  evening,  now  and  then, 
at  Dr.  Lanham's,  and  the  boys  no  doubt  intended  to  play 
a  prank  on  him  in  going  or  coming.  There  being  now 
no  moonlight,  the  village  streets  were  very  dark,  and 
there  was  every  opportunity  for  a  trick.  Riley's  father's 
house  stood  next  on  the  street  to  Dr.  Lanham's  ;  the  lots 
were  divided  by  an  alley.  This  gave  the  triplets  a  good 
chance  to  carry  out  their  designs. 

But  Bob  Holliday  and  Jack,  good  friends  to  the 
teacher,  thought  that  it  would  be  fun  to  watch  the  con- 
spirators and  defeat  them.  So,  when  they  saw  Mr.  Wil- 
liams going  to  Dr.  Lanham's,  they  stationed  themselves 
in  the  dark  alley  on  the  side  of  the  street  opposite  to 
Riley's  and  took  observations.  Mr.  Williams  had  a  habit 
of  leaving  Dr.  Lanham's  at  exactly  nine  o'clock,  and  so, 
just  before  nine,  the  three  came  out  of  Riley's  yard,  and 
proceeded  in  the  darkness  to  the  fence  of  Lanham's  door- 
yard. 

Getting  the  trunk  of  one  of  the  large  shade-trees  be- 
tween him  and  the  plotters,  Jack  crept  .up  close  enough 
to  guess  what  they  were  doing  and  to  overhear  their  con- 
versation. Then  he  came  back  to  Bob. 

"  They  are  tying  a  string  across  the  sidewalk  on  Lan- 
ham's side  of  the  alley,  I  believe,"  whispered  Jack,  "  so 


I/O  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY.* 

as  to  throw  Mr.  Williams  head  foremost  into  that  mud- 
hole  at  the  mouth  of  the  alley." 

By  this  time,  the  three  boys  had  finished  their 
arrangements  and  retreated  through  the  gate  into  the 
porch  of  the  Riley  house,  whence  they  might  keep  a 
lookout  for  the  catastrophe. 

"  I'm  going  to  cut  that  string  where  it  goes  around 
the  tree,"  said  Bob,  and  he  crouched  low  on  the  ground, 
got  the  trunk  of  the  tree  between  him  and  the  Riley 
house,  and  crept  slowly  across  the  street. 

"  I'll  capture  the  string,"  said  Jack,  walking  off  to  the 
next  cross-street,  then  running  around  the  block  until 
he  came  to  the  back  gate  of  Lanham's  yard,  which  he 
entered,  running  up  the  walk  to  the  back  door.  His 
knock  was  answered  by  Mrs.  Lanham. 

"  Why,  Jack,  what's  the  matter  ?  "  she  asked,  seeing 
him  at  the  kitchen  door,  breathless. 

"  I  want  to  see  Susan,  please,"  he  said,  "  and  tell 
Mr.  Williams  not  to  go  yet  a  minute." 

"  Here's  a  mystery,"  said  Mrs.  Lanham,  returning  to 
the  sitting-room,  where  the  teacher  was  just  rising  to  say 
good-night.  "  Here's  Jack  Dudley,  at  the  back  door,  out 
of  breath,  asking  for  Susan,  and  wishing  Mr.  Williams 
not  to  leave  the  house  yet." 

Susan  ran  to  the  back  door. 

"  Susan,"  said  Jack,  "the  triplets  have  tied  a  string 
from  the  corner  of  your  fence  to  the  locust-tree,  and 


•    UNCLAIMED   TOP-STRINGS.  I/ 1 

they're  watching  from  Riley's  porch  to  see  Mr.  Williams 
fall  into  the  mud-hole.  Bob  is  cutting  the  string  at  the 
tree,  and  I  want  you  to  go  down  along  the  fence  and  un- 
tie it  and  bring  it  in.  They  will  not  suspect  you  if  they 
see  you." 

"  I  don't  care  if  they  do,"  said  Susan,  and  she 
glided  out  to  the  cross-fence  which  ran  along  the  alley, 
followed  it  to  the  front,  and  untied  the  string,  fetching  it 
back  with  her.  When  she  got  back  to  the  kitchen  door 
she  heard  Jack  closing  the  alley  gate.  He  had  run  off  to 
join  Bob,  leaving  the  string  in  Susan's  hands. 

Dr.  Lanham  and  the  master  had  a  good  laugh  over 
the  captured  string,  which  was  made  of  Pewee's  and 
Riley's  top-strings,  tied  together. 

The  triplets  did  not  see  Susan  go  to  the  fence.  They 
were  too  intent  on  what  was  to  happen  to  Mr.  Williams. 
When,  at  length,  he  came  along  safely  through  the  dark- 
ness, they  were  bewildered. 

"You  didn't  tie  that  string  well  in  the  middle," 
growled  Pewee  at  Riley. 

"Yes,  I  did,"  said  Riley.  "He  must  have  stepped 
over." 

"  Step  over  a  string  a  foot  high,  when  he  didn't  know 
it  was  there  ?  "  said  Pewee. 

"  Let's  go  and  get  the  string,"  said  Ben  Berry. 

So  out  of  the  gate  they  sallied,  and  quickly  reached 
the  place  where  the  string  ought  to  have  been. 


1/2  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. - 

"  I  can't  find  this  end,"  whispered  Pewee  by  the 
fence. 

"  The  string's  gone  !  "  broke  out  Riley,  after  feeling 
up  and  down  the  tree  for  some  half  a  minute. 

What  could  have  become  of  it  ?  They  had  been  so 
near  the  sidewalk  all  the  time  that  no  one  could  have 
passed  without  their  seeing  him. 

The  next  day,  at  noon-time,  when  Susan  Lanham 
brought  out  her  lunch,  it  was  tied  with  Pewee's  new  top- 
string, — the  best  one  in  the  school. 

"  That's  a  very  nice  string,"  said  Susan. 

"  It's  just  like  Pewee's  top-string,"  cried  Harry  Weath- 
ervane. 

"  Is  it  yours,  Pewee?  "said  Susan,  in  her  sweetest  tones. 

"  No,"  said  the  king,  with  his  head  down  ;  "  mine's  at 
home." 

"  I  found  this  one,  last  night,"  said  Susan. 

And  all  the  school  knew  that  she  was  tormenting 
Pewee,  although  they  could  not  guess  how  she  had  got 
his  top-string.  After  a  while,  she  made  a  dive  into  her 
pocket,  and  brought  out  another  string. 

"  Oh,"  cried  Johnny  Meline  ;  "  where  did  you  get 
that  ?  " 

"  I  found  it." 

"That's  Will  Riley's  top-string,"  said  Johnny.  "It 
was  mine.  He  cheated  me  out  of  it  by  trading  an  old  top 
that  wouldn't  spin." 


UNCLAIMED   TOP-STRINGS.  173 

"  That's  the  way  you  get  your  top-strings,  is  it,  Will  ? 
Is  this  yours  ?  "  asked  the  tormenting  Susan. 

"  No,  it  isn't." 

"  Of  course  it  isn't  yours.  You  don't  tie  top-strings 
across  the  sidewalk  at  night.  You're  a  gentleman,  you 
are  !  Come,  Johnny,  this  string  doesn't  belong  to  any- 
body ;  I'll  trade  with  you  for  that  old  top  that  Will  gave 
you  for  a  good  string.  I  want  something  to  remember 
honest  Will  Riley  by." 

Johnny  gladly  pocketed  the  string,  and  Susan  carried 
off  the  shabby  top,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the  school, 
who  now  began  to  understand  how  she  had  come  by  the 
two  top-strings. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE   LAST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL,  AND   THE   LAST  CHAPTER  OF 
THE  STORY. 

IT  was  the  last  day  of  the  spring  term  of  school.  With 
Jack  this  meant  the  end  of  his  opportunity  for  going  to 
school.  What  he  should  learn  hereafter  he  must  learn 
by  himself.  The  money  was  nearly  out,  and  he  must 
go  to  work. 

The  last  day  of  school  meant  also  the  expiration  of 
the  master's  authority.  Whatever  evil  was  done  after 
school-hours  on  the  last  day  was  none  of  his  business. 
All  who  had  grudges  carried  them  forward  to  that  day, 
for  thus  they  could  revenge  themselves  without  being 
called  to  account  by  the  master  the  next  day.  The  last 
day  of  school  had  no  to-morrow  to  be  afraid  of.  Hence, 
Pewee  and  his  friends  proposed  to  square  accounts  on  the 
last  day  of  school  with  Jack  Dudley,  whom  they  hated  for 
being  the  best  scholar,  and  for  having  outwitted  them 
more  than  once. 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  June  that  the  school  ended, 
and  Mr.  Williams  bade  his  pupils  good-bye.  The  warm 
sun  had  by  this  time  brought  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  to 


THE   LAST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL.  175 

a  temperature  that  made  bathing  pleasant,  and  when  the 
school  closed,  all  the  boys,  delighted  with  liberty,  rushed 
to  the  river  for  a  good  swim  together.  In  that  genial 
climate  one  can  remain  in  the  water  for  hours  at  a  time, 
and  boys  become  swimmers  at  an  early  age. 

Just  below  the  village  a  raft  was  moored,  and  from 
this  the  youthful  swimmers  were  soon  diving  into  the 
deep  water  like  frogs.  Every  boy  who  could  perform 
any  feat  of  agility  displayed  it.  One  would  turn  a 
somersault  in  the  water,  and  then  dive  from  one  side  of 
the  raft  to  another,  one  could  float,  and  another  swim  on 
his  back,  while  a  third  was  learning  to  tread  water. 
Some  were  fond  of  diving  toes  downward,  others  took 
headers.  "  The  little  fellows  "  who  could  not  swim  kept 
on  the  inside  of  the  great  raft  and  paddled  about  with 
the  aid  of  slabs  used  for  floats.  Jack,  who  had  lived  for 
years  on  the  banks  of  the  Wildcat,  could  swim  and  dive 
like  a  musquash. 

Mr.  Williams,  the  teacher,  felt  lonesome  at  saying 
good-bye  to  his  school ;  and  to  keep  the  boys  company 
as  long  as  possible,  he  strolled  down  to  the  bank  and  sat 
on  the  grass  watching  the  bathers  below  him,  plung- 
ing and  paddling  in  all  the  spontaneous  happiness  of 
young  life. 

Riley  and  Pewee— conspirators  to  the  last— had  their 
plans  arranged.  When  Jack  should  get  his  clothes  on, 
they  intended  to  pitch  him  off  the  raft  for  a  good  wetting, 


i;6  THE   HOOSIER  SCHOOL-BOY. 

and  thus  gratify  their  long-hoarded  jealousy,  and  get  an 
offset  to  the  standing  joke  about  doughfaces  and  ghosts 
which  the  town  had  at  their  expense.  Ben  Berry,  who 
was  their  confidant,  thought  this  a  capital  plan. 

When  at  length  Jack  had  enjoyed  the  water  enough, 
he  came  out  and  was  about  to  begin  dressing.  Pewee 
and  Riley  were  close  at  hand,  already  dressed,  and  pre- 
pared to  give  Jack  a  farewell  ducking. 

But  just  at  that  moment  there  came  from  the  other 
end  of  the  raft,  and  from  the  spectators  on  the  bank,  a 
wild,  confused  cry,  and  all  turned  to  hearken.  Harry 
Weathervane's  younger  brother,  whose  name  was  An- 
drew Jackson,  and  who  could  not  swim,  in  dressing, 
had  stepped  too  far  backward  and  gone  off  the  raft.  He 
uttered  a  despairing  and  terrified  scream,  struck  out 
wildly  and  blindly,  and  went  down. 

All  up  and  down  the  raft  and  up  and  down  the  bank 
there  went  up  a  cry  :  "  Andy  is  drowning  !"  while  every- 
body looked  for  somebody  else  to  save  him. 

The  school-master  was  sitting  on  the  bank,  and  saw 
the  accident.  He  quickly  slipped  off  his  boots,  but 
then  he  stopped,  for  Jack  had  already  started  on  a  splen- 
did run  down  that  long  raft.  The  confused  and  terrified 
boys  made  a  path  for  him  quickly,  as  he  came  on  at  more 
than  the  tremendous  speed  he  had  always  shown  in 
games.  He  did  not  stop  to  leap,  but  ran  full  tilt  off  the 
raft,  falling  upon  the  drowning  boy  and  carrying  him 


THE   LAST  DAY   OF   SCHOOL.  177 

completely  under  water  with  him.  Nobody  breathed 
during  the  two  seconds  that  Jack,  under  water,  struggled 
to  get  a  good  hold  on  Andy  and  to  keep  Andy  from  dis- 
abling him  by  his  blind  grappling  of  Jack's  limbs. 

When  at  length  Jack's  head  came  above  water,  there 
was  an  audible  sigh  of  relief  from  all  the  on-lookers.  But 
the  danger  was  not  over. 

"  Let  go  of  my  arms,  Andy  !  "  cried  Jack.  "  You'll 
drown  us  both  if  you  hold  on  that  way.  If  you  don't  let 
go  I'll  strike  you." 

Jack  knew  that  it  was  sometimes  necessary  to  stun  a 
drowning  person  before  you  could  save  him,  where  he 
persisted  in  clutching  his  deliverer.  But  poor  frightened 
Andy  let  go  of  Jack's  arms  at  last.  Jack  was  already  ex- 
hausted with  swimming,  and  he  had  great  difficulty  in 
dragging  the  little  fellow  to  the  raft,  where  Will  Riley 
and  Pewee  Rose  pulled  him  out  of  the  water. 

But  now,  while  all  were  giving  attention  to  the  res- 
cued Andy,  there  occurred  with  Jack  one  of  those  events 
which  people  call  a  cramp.  I  do  not  know  what  to  call  it, 
but  it  is  not  a  cramp.  It  is  a  kind  of  collapse — a  sudden 
exhaustion  that  may  come  to  the  best  of  swimmers. 
The  heart  insists  on  resting,  the  consciousness  grows  dim, 
the  will-power  flags,  and  the  strong  swimmer  sinks. 

Nobody  was  regarding  Jack,  who  first  found  himself 
unable  to  make  even  an  effort  to  climb  on  the  raft ;  then 
his  hold  on  its  edge  relaxed,  and  he  slowly  sank  out 


1/8  THE   HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

of  sight.  Pewee  saw  his  sinking  condition  first,  and 
cried  out,  as  did  Riley  and  all  the  rest,  doing  nothing  to 
save  Jack,  but  running  up  and  down  the  raft  in  a  vain 
search  for  a  rope  or  a  pole. 

The  school-master,  having  seen  that  Andy  was 
brought  out  little  worse  for  his  fright  and  the  water 
he  had  swallowed,  was  about  to  put  on  his  boots  when 
this  new  alarm  attracted  his  attention  to  Jack  Dudley. 
Instantly  he  threw  off  his  coat  and  was  bounding  down 
the  steep  bank,  along  the  plank  to  the  raft,  and  then  along 
the  raft  to  where  Jack  had  sunk  entirely  out  of  sight.  Mr. 
Williams  leaped  head  first  into  the  water  and  made  what 
the  boys  afterward  called  a  splendid  dive.  Once  under 
water  he  opened  his  eyes  and  looked  about  for  Jack. 

At  last  he  came  up,  drawing  after  him  the  uncon- 
scious and  apparently  lifeless  form  of  Jack,  who  wai> 
taken  from  the  water  by  the  boys.  The  teacher  de- 
spatched two  boys  to  bring  Dr.  Lanham,  while  he  set 
himself  to  restore  consciousness  by  producing  artificial 
breathing.  It  was  some  time  after  Dr.  Lanham's  arrival 
that  Jack  fully  regained  his  consciousness,  when  he  was 
carried  home  by  the  strong  arms  of  Bob  Holliday,  Will 
Riley,  and  Pewee,  in  turn. 

And  here  I  must  do  the  last  two  boys  the  justice  to 
say  that  they  called  to  inquire  after  Jack  every  day  dur- 
ing the  illness  that  followed,  and  the  old  animosity  to  Jack 
was  never  afterward  revived  by  Pewee  and  his  friends. 


THE   LAST  DAY   OF   SCHOOL.  l8l 

On  the  evening  after  this  accident  and  these  rescues, 
Dr.  Lanhani  said  to  Mrs.  Lanham  and  Susan  and  Mr. 
Williams,  who  happened  to  be  there  again,  that  a  boy 
was  wanted  in  the  new  drug-store  in  the  village,  to  learn 
the  business,  and  to  sleep  in  the  back  room,  so  as  to  at- 
tend night-calls.  Dr.  Lanham  did  not  know  why  this 
Jack  Dudley  wouldn't  be  just  the  boy. 

Susan,  for  her  part,  was  very  sure  he  would  be  ;  and 
Mr.  Williams  agreed  with  Susan,  as,  indeed,  he  generally 
did. 

Dr.  Lanham  thought  that  Jack  might  be  allowed  to 
attend  school  in  the  daytime  in  the  winter  season,  and  if 
the  boy  had  as  good  stuff  in  him  as  he  seemed  to  have, 
there  was  no  reason  why  he  shouldn't  come  to  something 
some  day. 

"Come  to  something!"  said  Susan.  "Come  to 
something  !  Why,  he'll  make  one  of  the  best  doctors 
in  the  country  yet." 

And  again  Mr.  Williams  entirely  agreed  with  Susan. 
Jack  Dudley  was  sure  to  go  up  to  the  head  of  the  class. 

Jack  got  the  place,  and  I  doubt  not  fulfilled  the  hope 
of  his  friends.  I  know  this,  at  least,  that  when  a  year  or 
so  later  his  good  friend  and  teacher,  Mr.  Williams,  was 
married  to  his  good  and  stanch  friend,  Susan  Lanham, 
Jack's  was  one  of  the  happiest  faces  at  the  wedding. 

THE  END. 


SCRIBNER'S   LIST    OF 

NEW     JUVENILE     BOOKS, 


THE  STORY  OF  ROLAND. 

BY  JAMES  BALDWIN. 
With  a  series  of  illustrations  by  R.  B.  Birch.     One  volume,  square  I2mo $2.00 

This  volume  is  intended  as  a  companion  to  The  Story  of  Siegfried.  As  Sieg- 
fried was  an  adaptation  of  Northern  myths  and  romances  to  the  wants  and  the 
understanding  of  young  readers,  sc  is  this  story  a  similar  adaptation  of  the  middle- 
age  romances  relating  to  Charlemagne  and  his  paladins.  As  Siegfried  was  the 
greatest  of  the  heroes  of  the  North,  so  too  was  Roland  the  most  famous  among 
the  Knights  of  the  Middle-Ages.  While  The  Story  of  Siegfried  exemplifies  the 
sublime  old-world  spirit  of  the  Gothic  nature  myths,  its  counterpart,  The  Story  of 
Roland,  is  less  remote,  and  the  incidents,  though  equally  wonderful,  are  of  a  more 
human  character  and  appeal  with  greater  force  to  our  sympathies.  In  Mr.  Bald- 
win's hands  the  different  legends  of  Roland  and  his  companions  are  here  fused 
into  a  straightforward  story.  All  the  available  sources  have  been  drawn  upor 
from  the  old  French  epic,  the  Chanson  de  Roland  and  the  English  chronicles,  to  ti 
more  fanciful  romances  of  Boiardo,  Ariosto,  and  Pulci  ;  and  the  history,  the  man 
ners  and  customs  of  the  time,  as  well  as  all  that  pertains  to  the  institution  of 
chivalry,  have  been  faithfully  and  yet  vividly  represented. 

Mr.  Birch  has  contributed  a  number  of  spirited  illustrations  that  bring  clearly 
before  the  eye  the  forms  of  Roland  and  his  friend  Oliver,  of  Ogier,  the  Dane,  and 
other  famous  knights  and  paladins,  as  well  as  the  scenes  of  their  wondrous  exploits 
and  adventures. 


BOOKS  FOR    THE    YOUNG. 


HOOSIER  SCHOOL-BOY. 

BY   EDWARD   EGGLESTON, 
Author  of  "The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster,"  etc. 

With  full  page  Illustrations. 
I  vol.,  I2mo $1.00 

Mr.  Eggleston  is  one  of  ihe  very  few  American  novelists  who  have  succeeded  in 
giving  to  their  work  a  genuine  savor  of  the  soil,  a  distinctively  American  character. 
His  Roxyt  Hoosier  Schoolmaster,  Circuit  Rider,  and  the  rest,  are  home-spun  and 
native  in  all  their  features.  The  ^cene  cf  the  stories  is  the  Western  Reserve,  and 
the  characters  are  types  of  the  pioneers  of  the  early  part  of  this  century,  in  the 
territory  now  comprised  in  Indiana  and  Ohio. 

The  Hoosier  School-boy,  as  its  title  shows,  belongs  to  the  same  locality,  and 
depicts  some  of  the  characteristics  of  boy  life,  years  ago,  on  the  Ohio,  character- 
istics, however,  that  were  not  peculiar  to  that  section  only.  The  story  presents  a 
vivid  and  interesting  picture  of  the  difficulties  which  in  those  days  beset  the  path 
of  the  youth  aspiring  for  an  education.  These  obstacles,  which  the  hero  of  the 
story  succeeds  by  his  genuine  manliness  and  force  of  character  in  surmounting,  are 
just  such  as  a  majority  of  the  most  distinguished  Americans,  in  all  walks  of  life, 
including  Lincoln  and  Garfield,  have  had  to  contend  with,  and  which  they  have 
made  the  stepping  stone  to  their  future  greatness.  Mr.  Bush's  strong  and  life-like 
illustrations  add  much  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  book. 


THE  STORY  OF  SIEGFRIED. 

BY  JAMES  BALDWIN. 
With   a  series   of  superb   illustrations   by  Howard    Pyle.      One  volume,  square 

121110 , $2.0O 

"  To  wise  parents  who  strive,  as  all  parents  should  do,  to  regulate  and  supervise  their  chil- 
dren's reading,  this  book  is  most  earnestly  commended.  Would  there  were  more  of  its  type  and 
excellence.  It  has  our  most  hearty  approval  and  recommendation  in  every  way,  not  only  for 
beauty  of  illustration,  which  is  of  the  highest  order,  but  for  the  fascinating  manner  in  which  the 
old  Norse  legend  is  told."—  The  Churchman. 

"  What  more  calculated  to  inspire  the  courage,  to  elevate  the  imagination,  to  mould  the  con- 
duct of  youth,  than  these  reproductions  of  the  heroic  legends  of  the  old  Norse  and  German  folk  ?  " 
—Minneapolis  Tribune. 

"  No  more  delightful  reading  for  the  young  can  be  imagined  than  that  provided  in  this  inter- 
esting book,  and  the  manner  of  the  recital  is  so  graceful  that  older  readers  will  derive  from  it 
scarcely  less  pleasure." — Hasten  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

"  The  story  is  told  simply  and  strongly,  preserving  the  fire  and  force  of  the  original,  and  not 
losing  the  subtle  charm  of  theold  fable  with  all  its  pathetic  beauty."—  Brooklyn  Union-Argus. 

"  It  is  a  good,  strong  story  ;  it  comes  in  among  the  mass  of  juvenile  books  like  a  wind  blown 
from  Northern  woods."— Philadelphia  Sundav-School  Times. 


SCXI£NEJ?'S  NEW  LIST. 


THE     AMERICAN    BOY'S    HANDY    BOOK; 
Or,  What  to  Do  and  How  to  Do  It. 


BY  DANIEL  C.  BEARD. 


Fully  illustrated  by  the  author.     One  volume,  Svo $3.00 

Mr.  Beard's  book  is  the  first  to  tell  the  active,  inventive  and  practical  American 
boy  the  things  he  really  -wants  to  know  ;  the  thousand  things  he  wants  to  do,  and  the 
ten  thousand  ways  in  which  he  can  do  them,  with  the  helps  and  ingenious  contri- 
vances which  every  boy  can  either  procure  or  m^ke.  The  author  divides  the  book 
among  the  sports  of  the  four  seasons  ;  and  he  has  made  an  almost  exhaustive  col- 
lection  of  the  cleverest  modern  devices, — besides  himself  imenting  an  immense 
number  of  capital  and  practical  ideas — in 


y  [        Kite-Making, 

Trapping, 

g 

z 

Fishing, 

Taxidermy, 

a 

a. 

Aquarium-Making, 

Home-Made  Hunting 

f 

I 

Etc. 

Apparatus,  etc. 

? 

Boat-Building, 

Ice-Boating, 

s 

Boat-Rigging, 

Snow-Ball  Warfare, 

^ 

Boat-Sailing, 

Winter-Fishing, 

z 

I 

g           Camping-Out, 

Sled-Building, 

s 

(0 

Balloons, 

Puppet-Shows, 

? 

Etc. 

Etc. 

few  bot  ks  more  useful  and  instructive  to  the 


rage  boy  than  this." — 
lost  intelligible,  comprehensive  and  practical  boy's  book  which  we  have 


"  We  can  conceive 
Troy  Times. 

"  This  is  by  far  the 
ever  seen." — Kingston  Freeman. 

"  When  selecting  books  for  a  boy  it  should  be  remembered  that  such  a  one  as  this  tends  to 
make  him  handy,  skillful  and  self-reliant,  and  that  the  boy  would  p  obab'y  choose  it  himself  ."- 
Boston  Globe. 

"Each  particular  department  is  minutely  illustrated,  and  the  who'e  is  a  complete  treas.ry. 
invaluable  not  only  to  the  boys  themselves,  but  to  parents  and  guardians  who  have  at  heart  their 
happiness  and  healthful  development  of  mind  and  muscle. "-Pittsburgh  Telegraph. 

"  The  boy  who  has  learned  to  play  all  the  games  and  make  all  the  toys  of  which  it  teaches, 
has  unconsciously  exercised  the  inventive  faculty  that  if  in  him,  has  acquired  skill  with  his  hands, 
and  has  become  a  good  mechanic  and  an  embryo  inventor  without  knowing  ft.  -*//•*! 


SCRIB NEK'S  NEW  LIST. 


WILLIAM    O.    STODDARD'S    CAPITAL 
STORIES    FOR    BOYS. 

SALTILLO    BOYS. 

>Jne  volume,  I2mo $1.00 

"  No  more  wholesome  and  amusing  book  could  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  boy." — The  Ex- 
aminer. 

u  The  story  appeals  to  boys,  not  only  on  their  better  side,  but  on  the  side  which  is  strongest 
and  highest  in  the  boy  view  of  the  matter." — The  Independent. 

"  Mr.  Stoddard  indulges   now   and   then   in   that  vein   of  fine   humor  which  readers  of  Dab 

equable  temperate  flow  of  ordinary  incidents  which  he  has  the  art  to  infuse  with  no  ordinary 
interest.  No  boy's  book  that  we  can  remember  is  less  sensational ;  and  yet  few  books  will  give 
more  pleasure  to  boys." — Good  Literature. 


DAB    KINZER. 

A.     Stoiry   of  &j    G-iroAAring    lEBoy. 
One  volume,  I2mo $l.oo 

"  It  is  written  in  that  peculiarly  happy  vein  which  enchants  while  it  instructs,  and  is  one  of 
those  thoroughly  excellent  bits  of  juvenile  literature  which  now  and  then  crop  out  from  the  sur- 
face of  a  mass  of  common-place." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"  In  a  literary  point  of  view,  we  are  inclined  to  rank  this  book  among  the  first  of  its  kind. 
•'••  *  *  A  father  who  wants  his  boy  to  grow  up  in  a  manly  way,  may  find  in  such  books  some- 
thing  to  help  him  amazingly." — Christian  Intelligencer. 


THE   QUARTET. 

to   "iDetTo 
Jne  volume,  I2mo fl.oo 

"  The  Quartet  is  marked  by  all  the  brightness  and  incident  which  made  'Dab  Kinzer'  such 
a  favorite  with  the  boys.  *  *  *  If  any  father  would  live  over  his  boyhood  days  again,  and 
likewise  put  twoheilthy  and  breezy  books  into  his  children's  hands,  let  him  read  these  two  vol- 
umes and  then  hand  them  over  to  the  boys  of  the  family.  *  *  *  While  free  from  all  trace  of 
preaching,  there  is  a  bracing  religious  atmosphere  about  the  books  which  will  make  them  good 
reading  for  the  family  in  every  sense." — Examiner  and  Chronicle. 

V  DAB  KINZER,  THE  QUARTET,  SALTILLO  BOYS,  and 
Mr.  Stoddard's  new  volume,  AMONG  THE  LAKES,  are  furnished 
in  sets,  in  uniform  binding,  in  a  box.  Price,  $4.00.  They  are  especially 
recommended  for  Sunday-school  libraries. 


BOOKS  FOR    THE    YOUNG. 


SIDNEY  LANIER  S    EDITIONS  OF  THE 
OLD   LEGENDS. 

EA  CH  VOLUME  BEAUTIFULLY  1LLUSTRA  TED. 

THE  BOY'S  PERCY. 

Edited  with  an  Introduction  by  SIDNEY  LANIER.     With  50  text  and  full  page 

illustrations  by  E.  B.  Bensell.     i  vol.,  I2mo $2.50 

.  "  He  who  walks  in  the  way  these  following  ballads  point  will  be  manful  in  necessary  fight, 
lair  in  trade,  loyal  in  love,  generous  to  the  poor,  tender  in  the  household,  prudent  in  living,  plain 
in  speech,  merry  upon  occasion,  simple  in  behavior,  and  honest  in  all  things."— From  Mr. 
Lamer  s  Introduction. 

THE   BOY'S  MABJNOGION. 

Being  the  Earliest  Welsh  Tales  of  King  Arthur  in  the  famous  Red  Book  of 
Hergest.  Edited  for  Boys,  with  an  Introduction  by  SIDNEY  LANIER.  With 
12  full-page  illustrations  by  Alfred  Fredericks.  One  volume,  crown  8vo, 
extra  cloth $3.00 

"Amid  all  the  strange  and  fanciful  scenery  of  these  stories,  character  and  the  ideals  of  char- 
acter remain  at  the  simplest  and  purest.  The  romantic  history  transpires  in  the  healthy  atmos- 
phere of  the  open  air  on  the  green  earth  beneath  the  open  sky.  .  .  .  The  figures  of  Right, 
Truth,  Justice,  Honor,  Purity,  Courage,  Reverence  for  Law,  are  always  in  the  background  ;  and 
the  grand  passion  inspired  by  the  book  is  for  strength  to  do  well  and  nobly  in  the  world." — Tkt 
Independent.  

THE   BOY'S   KING  ARTHUR. 

Being  Sir  Thomas  Mallory's  History  of  King  Arthur  and  his  Knights  of  the  Round 
Table.  Edited  for  Boys,  with  an  Introduction  by  SIDNEY  LANIER.  With  12 
full-page  illustrations  by  Alfred  Kappes.  One  volume,  crown  8vo,  extra 
cloth $3.00 

"  Unconsciously  as  he  reads  of  the  brave  deeds  wrought  by  the  gallant  soldiers  told  of  by 
Froissart  or  fancied  by  Mallory,  the  boy's  heart  is  thrilled  and  his  higher  nature  throbs  with 
knightly  longings.  He  craves  for  himself  the  sturdy  courage  of  Bevis  of  Hampton,  the  courtly 
grace  of  Launcelot,  the  purity  of  Gallahad  ;  and  he  hates  with  an  honest  hatred  that  unlcal 
scoundrel,  King  Mark.  He  learns  that  he  should  protect  those  who  are  less  strong  than  he  i« 
himself  ;  that  a  man  should  never  be  rude  to  a  woman  ;  that  truth  must  never  be  sacrificed,  and 
that  the  most  cowardly  thing  that  a  man  can  do  is  to  flinch  from  his  duty."— Philadelphia. 

THE  BOY'S  FROISSART. 

Being  Sir  John  Froissart's  Chronicles  of  Adventure,  Battle  and  Custom  in  England, 
France,  Spain,  etc.  Edited  for  Boy.s,  with  an  Introduction  by  SIDNEY 
LANIER.  With  12  full-page  illustrations  by  Alfred  Kappes.  One  volume, 
crown  8vo,  extra  cloth $3-°° 

"  It  is  quite  the  beau  ideal  of  a  book  for  a  present  to  an  intelligent  boy  or  girl.  *  *  *  Mr. 
Sidney  Lamer,  in  editing  a  boy's  version  of  Froissart,  has  not  onfy  opened  to  them  a  world  of 
romantic  and  poetic  legend  of  the  chivalric  and  heroic  sort,  but  he  has  gnen  them  something 
which  ennobles  and  does  not  poison  the  mind.  .Old  Froissait  was  a  gentleman  every  inch  ;  he 
hated  the  base,  the  cowardly,  the  paltry  ;  he  loved  the  knightly,  the  heroic,  the  gentle,  and  this 
spirit  breathes  through  all  his  chronicles.  There  is  a  genuineness  too,  about  his  writings,  thn 
pives  them  a  literary  value.  *  *  *  It  is  like  t-avel  into  foreign  timts  as  well  as  into  foreign 
lands,  and  getting  a  glimpse  of  the  era  of  Faith.  Simplicity  and  Sincerity.  It  thus  has  a  peculiar 
freshness  that  suggests  an  immortality  like  Komtr."- Baltimore  Gazette. 


BOOKS  FOR    THE    YOUNG. 


THE   MERRY  ADVENTURES    OF   ROBIN 
HOOD. 

OF  GREAT  RENOWN  IN  NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 

WRITTEN  AND  ILLUSTRATED  BY  HOWARD  PYLE. 
One  volume,  4to,  full  embossed  leather,  antique,  from  the  author's  designs.  .$4.50 

In  this  book,  perhaps  the  most  original  and  el  iborate  ever  produced  by  an 
American  artist,  Mr.  Pyle  has  told  with  pencil  and  pen  the  complete  and  consecu- 
tive story  of  Robin  Hood  and  his  merry  m^n  in  their  haunts  in  Sherwood  forest, 
gathered  from  the  old  ballads  and  legends.  These  delightful  romances,  which 
have  made  the  bold  ranger  the  ideal  of  the  outlaw  class  at  a  time  when  that  class 
included  not  only  fugitives  from  justice  but  al  o  refugees  from  oppression  and 
misrule,  hive  furnished  for  many  generations  a  source  of  inexhaustible  entertain- 
ment to  old  and  young. 

There  is  something  thoroughly  English  and  Inme-bred  in  these  episodes  in  the 
life  of  the  bold  outlaw.  His  sunny,  open  air  nature,  his  matchless  skill  at  archery, 
his  generous  disposition,  his  love  of  fair  play,  and  his  ever  present  courtesy  to 
women,  form  a  picture  that  has  no  counterpart  in  the  folk-lore  of  any  oth<  r  people. 
The  simple  ballad  English  has  been  most  successfully  preserved  in  Mr.  Pyle's 
easy  prose,  and,  as  regards  the  text,  this  editi  in  io  in  all  respects  the  most  complete 
and  in  every  way  the  most  desirab'e  that  has  ever  been  issued.  But  it  has  other 
claims  to  notice  in  the  admirable  illustrations  which  Mr.  Pyle  has  strewn  profusely 
throughout  his  book.  These  pictures  set  forth  most  graphically  every  eventful 
scene  in  the  narrative,  and  they  are  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  story,  even  to  the 
smallest  detail ;  as  specimens  of  figure-drawing  they  form  the  most  admirable  and 
ar  istic  series  that  an  American  artist  has  created  for  many  years.  In  them  the 
persons  of  Robin  Hood,  Little  John,  Will  Stutely,  the  Sheriff  of  Nottingham, 
Allan-a-Dale,  Queen  Eleanor,  Friar  Tuck,  and  all  the  rest,  become  as  familiar  as 
their  names  and  characteristics. 

Thi  binding  and  general  make-up  of  the  book  deserve  more  than  a  passing  men- 
tion. Every  detail  has  been  carefully  wrought  out  by  the  author,  and  the  exterior 
of  the  volume  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  its  contents.  The  elaborate  chapter- 
headings  and  tail-pieces  are  especially  noteworthy  specimens  of  this  form  of 
I'ecor.itioi. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


MAY  181938 


L  006  377  101   8 


